Hong Kong Prepares for 11.38 Million Passengers During Chinese New Year Festivities

Interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements releases latest information on cross-boundary passenger traffic estimation and arrangements for Chinese New Year festive period

The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, released the following information today (February 12) on the latest situation and arrangements for the upcoming Chinese New Year festive period.

The Immigration Department (ImmD) estimates that around 11.38 million passengers (including Hong Kong residents and visitors) will pass through Hong Kong's sea, land and air control points during the upcoming Chinese New Year festive period (from February 14 to February 23). The ImmD, in consultation with the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection and other Mainland authorities, estimates that around 9.52 million passengers will pass through land boundary control points. The number of outbound and inbound passengers using land boundary control points (BCPs) will be relatively higher on February 14 (Saturday) and February 22 (Sunday), with around 636 000 passengers and 663 000 passengers respectively.

The Immigration Department (ImmD) estimates that around 11.38 million passengers (including Hong Kong residents and visitors) will pass through Hong Kong's sea, land and air control points during the upcoming Chinese New Year festive period (from February 14 to February 23). Photo source: ImmD

The ImmD estimates that the passenger traffic at the Lo Wu Control Point, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point and the Shenzhen Bay Control Point will be heavy, with a daily average forecast of about 200 000, 187 000 and 156 000 passengers respectively.

All BCPs will maintain the existing operating hours during this year's Chinese New Year holiday. The Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang Port and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Port will maintain a 24-hour operation as usual.

To cope with the anticipated heavy traffic during the festive period, the ImmD has minimised leave for frontline officers for flexible deployment, and operation of additional counters, temporary counters and channels. Additional security guards will also be deployed to provide crowd management support.

Furthermore, the ImmD, the Hong Kong Police Force, the Customs and Excise Department and the MTR Corporation Limited will set up a joint command centre at the Lo Wu Control Point to make necessary arrangements. The ImmD will also establish close communication with Mainland authorities, including the Shenzhen General Station of Exit and Entry Frontier Inspection. To ensure a smooth passenger traffic flow, passenger conditions will be closely monitored and appropriate traffic diversion plans will be adopted when necessary.

The ImmD advises all land boundary passengers to plan in advance, avoid making their journeys during busy periods and keep track of radio and TV broadcasts on traffic conditions at various control points. Residents and visitors may also visit "Easy Boundary" (www.sb.gov.hk/eng/bwt/status.html?type=outbound), a one-stop information platform on immigration clearance launched by the Security Bureau, to obtain useful information in one go, including the respective average waiting time for passengers and private cars at land BCPs, as well as for the HZMB cross-boundary shuttle bus (Gold Bus) and the Lok Ma Chau-Huanggang cross-boundary shuttle bus (Yellow Bus), so as to plan their trips and save waiting time.

For travellers making journeys to the Mainland, the ImmD reminds them to carry their proof of identity and valid travel documents for crossing the boundary. Hong Kong residents should also check the validity of their Home Visit Permits. Non-permanent residents must carry their valid smart identity card as well as their Document of Identity for Visa Purposes or valid travel document.

Holders of the acknowledgement receipt issued due to reported loss or replacement of their Hong Kong identity cards, or children under 11 years old who hold Hong Kong identity cards, should carry a valid travel document or Re-entry Permit.

About 700 e-Channels have been installed at various control points. To further enhance the clearance efficiency of control points, following the adjustment of the eligible age for using e-Channel service to seven or above for Hong Kong permanent residents, holders of Electronic Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macao (e-EEP), holders of the People's Republic of China (PRC) electronic ordinary passports and departing visitors using "Smart Departure", the ImmD, in collaboration with the Public Security Police Force, the Identification Services Bureau and the Public Security Forces Affairs Bureau of Macao, with effect from January 19, has adjusted the eligible age for mutual use of automated immigration clearance services, and relaxed the requirements for the use of self-service enrolment kiosks for enrolment of such services. At present, Hong Kong residents aged 11 or above holding a valid Hong Kong permanent identity card are eligible for using the automated passenger clearance services in the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) after enrolment. Under the new measure, Hong Kong residents agedseven to 10 holding a valid Hong Kong permanent identity card will also be eligible for using the automated passenger clearance services in the Macao SAR after enrolment. Similarly, Macao residents agedseven to 10 holding a valid Macao permanent identity card may use e-Channels to complete the automated immigration clearance after enrolment. Moreover, Hong Kong non-permanent residents aged 18 or above, holding a valid Hong Kong identity card and a valid Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Document of Identity for Visa Purposes with a validity of more than 90 days may perform the self-service enrolment for using the automated passenger clearance services in the Macao SAR at designated locations in Macao. Under the new measure, persons of this category may also perform the self-service enrolment at the enrolment kiosks installed at designated control points or at various Registration of Persons Offices in Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Macao residents aged 18 or above holding a valid Macao non-permanent identity card and a valid visit permit for residents of Macao to the HKSAR may also perform the self-service enrolment for using e-Channel services at designated locations in the Macao SAR. For details of the e-Channel services, please visit:https://www.immd.gov.hk/eng/services/immigration_clearance.html

Hong Kong residents who require assistance while travelling outside Hong Kong may call the 24-hour hotline of the Assistance to Hong Kong Residents Unit of the ImmD at (852) 1868, call the 1868 hotline using network data or use the 1868 Chatbot via the ImmD Mobile App, send a message to 1868 WhatsApp assistance hotline or 1868 WeChat assistance hotline or submit the Online Assistance Request Form.

The interdepartmental working group on festival arrangements is tasked with holistically co-ordinating and steering the preparatory work of various government departments for welcoming visitors to Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year Golden Week of the Mainland, as well as strengthening information dissemination to enable the public and visitors to plan their itineraries according to the latest situation.

The ImmD estimates that the passenger traffic at the Lo Wu Control Point, the Lok Ma Chau Spur Line Control Point and the Shenzhen Bay Control Point will be heavy, with a daily average forecast of about 200 000, 187 000 and 156 000 passengers respectively. Photo source: reference image

S for S intends to make recommendation to CE-in-C on striking-off order against three companies relating to Apple Daily

Following the Court of First Instance of the High Court's conviction and sentence of Apple Daily Limited, Apple Daily Printing Limited and AD Internet Limited (three companies relating to Apple Daily) for offences endangering national security, the Secretary for Security yesterday (February 11), pursuant to Article 31 of the Hong Kong National Security Law (HKNSL) and section 360C of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32), issued written notices to the three companies respectively, affording them an opportunity to make representations, before the Secretary for Security recommends the Chief Executive-in-Council (CE-in-C) to order the Registrar of Companies to strike the three companies off the Companies Register.

A spokesperson for the Security Bureau said, "Lai Chee-ying and the three companies relating to Apple Daily were prosecuted with a total of three charges of offences endangering national security, including 'conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security' (contrary to Article 29 of the HKNSL and sections 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance), and 'conspiracy to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications' (contrary to sections 10, 159A and 159C of the Crimes Ordinance). The Court convicted Lai Chee-ying and the three defendant companies of all charges on December 15, 2025 and handed down sentences on February 9 this year. Amongst others, the three companies relating to Apple Daily were each sentenced to a fine of HK$3,004,500.

"The Court pointed out in its Reasons for Verdict that Lai Chee-ying closely managed and exercised hands-on control on the editorial direction of Apple Daily. Whether pre- or post- HKNSL, Lai Chee-ying utilised Apple Daily's platform to publish seditious articles, and requested foreign countries to impose sanctions or blockades or engage in other hostile activities against the People's Republic of China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The senior management of Apple Daily were fully aware of Lai Chee-ying's intention and provided support by executing his editorial directions. The conspiracies in the charges were facilitated by the three companies relating to Apple Daily, and they were knowing and willing parties to the conspiracies. The Court also held in its Reasons for Sentence that the offence of 'conspiracy to print, publish, sell, offer for sale, distribute, display and/or reproduce seditious publications' in this case fell within the most serious category for its type, and the two offences of 'conspiracy to commit collusion with a foreign country or with external elements to endanger national security' fell within the category of offences of 'a grave nature'."

"Article 31 of the HKNSL stipulates that the operation of an incorporated or unincorporated body such as a company or an organization shall be suspended or its licence or business permit shall be revoked if the body has been punished for committing an offence under that law. The HKSAR Government has a responsibility to enforce the relevant provisions in Article 31 of the HKNSL regarding the three companies relating to Apple Daily."

"Taking into account the relevant circumstances of the case, including the conviction and seriousness of the offences committed by the three companies relating to Apple Daily, the Secretary for Security now considers that it is necessary for safeguarding national security to prohibit the operation or continued operation of these three companies in Hong Kong, and therefore intends to make a recommendation to the CE-in-C to consider exercising the power under section 360C of the Companies (Winding Up and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance (Cap. 32) to order the Registrar of Companies to strike the three companies relating to Apple Daily off the Companies Register."

"The Secretary for Security has issued written notices to the three relevant companies respectively, affording them an opportunity to make written representations by February 25. When the Secretary for Security makes the relevant recommendation to the CE-in-C, the written representations submitted by the three relevant companies (if any) will be submitted together to the CE-in-C for a decision whether or not to make the order."

"If the CE-in-C eventually decides to order the Registrar of Companies to strike the three companies relating to Apple Daily off the Companies Register, the three companies will become 'prohibited organizations'. Any person who engages in the acts specified in sections 62 to 65 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (SNSO) commits an offence, including acting as an office-bearer or a member of a prohibited organization and giving aids of any kind to a prohibited organization, and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of $1,000,000 and imprisonment for 14 years."

The spokesperson pointed out, "The HKSAR Government steadfastly safeguards the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong people as protected under the law. Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, human rights in the city have always been robustly guaranteed constitutionally by both the Constitution and the Basic Law. The HKNSL and the SNSO also clearly stipulate that human rights shall be respected and protected in safeguarding national security in the HKSAR, and that the rights and freedoms, including the freedoms of speech, of the press, of publication, of association, of assembly, of procession and of demonstration, that Hong Kong residents enjoy under the Basic Law and the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as applied to Hong Kong, shall be protected in accordance with the law. Nonetheless, just as the case with other places in the world, such rights and freedoms are not absolute. The ICCPR also expressly states that some of them may be subject to restrictions as prescribed by law that are necessary for the protection of national security, public safety, public order or the rights and freedoms of others, etc."

The spokesperson stressed, "Safeguarding national security is a matter of fundamental importance. Endangering national security is a very serious offence. Such acts or activities may lead to extremely grave consequences. The Government of the HKSAR will, as always, resolutely, fully, and faithfully implement the HKNSL, the SNSO, and other relevant laws of the HKSAR for safeguarding national security to effectively prevent, suppress, and impose punishment for acts and activities endangering national security in accordance with the law, and prohibit the operation of organizations that engage in activities endangering national security in the HKSAR."

Source: AI-found images