Immigration officials at a major checkpoint bordering Hong Kong
will be working longer hours to cope with the growing number of
travelers between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, authorities said
yesterday.
The checkpoint, which oversees the entry and exit of travelers
at the Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport and a nearby wharf
providing ferry services to Hong Kong, witnessed more than 2
million travelers last year, an increase of almost 12 percent
year-on-year.
"Despite the increasing flow of people, we won't have excessive
immigration officials," Zhang Yang, a press official at the
Shenzhen airport checkpoint station, said.
"All the 110 immigration officials at the airport and wharf have
been urged to improve efficiency and will work longer hours," Zhang
said.
The officials will work three to four hours longer, Zhang
said.
Currently, it takes no longer than 15 seconds to handle all the
immigration procedures of a Hong Kong or Macao visitor, checkpoint
officials said.
The growing number of travelers is mainly due to new
international flight routes plying the two areas, Zhang said.
The checkpoint saw airline passengers traveling between Shenzhen
and Hong Kong surge to about 786,000 last year, a 47-percent
increase from the previous year, Zhang said.
Shenzhen airport, the mainland's fourth largest, operated at
least 20 international passenger and cargo routes and served about
13,400 international flights last year, compared with the 200
flights it started with in 1993, Zhang said.
"With the operation of new international routes this year, we
expect the inbound and outbound flow of people at the airport to
surpass 1 million this year," he said.
Visitors from South Korea accounted for nearly 11 percent of all
visitors, followed by those from Malaysia, Japan and Singapore.
(China Daily January 3, 2008)