Action urged in HK to ease border bottlenecks

Vacation travel pushes checkpoints close to maximum capacities

Hong Kong lawmakers have urged the city to enhance crowd control management, suggesting technology could be used to improve cross-boundary travel, after its borders were strained during the Easter break, with over 4.26 million inbound and outbound travelers recorded.

They also said vacation peaks have brought checkpoints close to their maximum capacities, and only the opening of more cross-boundary facilities, including the new Huanggang port now under construction and due to open in 2026, will be able to ease the bottlenecks.

Between Friday and Monday — the city's Easter holidays — around 2.07 million inbound and 2.19 million outbound travelers passed through Hong Kong's land, sea and air border control points — 40 percent more than during the same holiday last year. Among those who left the city for vacations, over 80 percent headed for the Chinese mainland.