Travellers crossing Hong Kong-mainland Chinese border enjoy smoother journeys after health declaration policy is axed

Travellers crossing the Hong Kong-mainland Chinese border enjoyed shorter journeys after authorities in the north lifted a mandatory health declaration on Wednesday, becoming the last such curb imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic to be set aside.

Tourists and commuters passing through the land-based Lo Wu checkpoint in the morning expressed relief over no longer being required to complete the form before travelling. Some said the change had caught them off guard.

A Post reporter observed hundreds of travellers at Lo Wu MTR station heading for the mainland at around 8.30am, with passengers flocking to nearby immigration counters after getting off their train.

Last Covid-19 restriction on travel between Hong Kong and mainland China dropped

Mainland customs authorities introduced the cross-border requirement in early 2020 in response to the pandemic, with the policy applying to incoming and outgoing travellers.

Under the now-defunct policy, travellers were issued a QR code, commonly known as a “black code”, which was scanned by mainland authorities when the recipients crossed the border.

Mainland customs authorities confirmed on their official WeChat account on Tuesday that the requirement would be scrapped from midnight on Wednesday.

But notices still appeared along the mainland side of the border that reminded travellers who were feeling unwell to submit health declarations to officials.

Hong Kong retiree Wilson Yung, 64, was among those making the journey on Wednesday morning and said the policy change had made travel much more convenient.

“The process will be faster, if there are a lot of people crossing and you still needed to deal with the black code, the whole process would be delayed a little as everyone would need to scan their codes at the machine,” he said.

“Those who are not good at using their phones would also have to fiddle with their phones for a while … Without this, it is better.”

Yung said he had no problems filling out the declaration, but most elderly struggled to use the system on their phones, adding he had once waited 20 minutes to cross the border because of such issues.

The retiree said he expected the change-up would shave five to 10 minutes off his travel time.

‘Hongkongers unlikely to head north despite end to cross-border health declaration’

Legal sector employee Mike Kwan said he made the crossing twice a week for work and the now-lifted policy had been “repetitive” and a “waste of time” after the pandemic ended.

“I feel like it is unnecessary in the first place, where I have to purposely do another step,” the 45-year-old said. He added that the policy had typically added five to 10 minutes onto his previous trips.

Researcher Sherry Lam, 43, said the declaration cancellation had caught her by surprise as she headed north for a work trip.

“There is one less thing for me to worry about, it will definitely be more convenient,” she said.

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Lam said she was travelling to the mainland for the first time since the border reopened and had decided to make the trip with people familiar with the declaration system to help her overcome any issues.

Some pro-establishment politicians had earlier argued that the declaration system was too complicated for elderly people and had contributed to long queues at the border.

Last month, mainland authorities simplified the health declaration process by reducing the number of required information sections from 11 to nine for cross-border travel.