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About 2.9 million people are expected to cross Hong Kong's land boundary checkpoints to and from the Chinese mainland during the upcoming Labor Day festive period, a rise of 13.9 percent from the same period of 2001.
A spokesman for the Immigration Department of Hong Kong said Monday that the peak period would fall between April 30 and May 8.
It is estimated about 2.47 million passengers, a daily average of 274,000, will cross the boundary via the Lo Wu checkpoint, representing 85 percent of the total cross-boundary passenger traffic and an increase of 14.5 percent compared with the corresponding period of last year.
Meanwhile, the passenger traffic at Lok Ma Chau checkpoint during the festive period will also be very heavy with a forecast of 317,000 passengers, an daily average of about 35,000.
The spokesman added that since the Labor Day was a 'Golden Holiday' in the mainland, plus the recent relaxation of Hong Kong immigration policy on mainland group tour visitors, it was anticipated that the arrivals of group visitors from the mainland would increase considerably during the period.
Around 40,000 mainland group visitors are expected to arrive by land, and of them the majority will cross the boundary via Lo Wu and Lok Ma Chau checkpoints.
(Xinhua News Agency April 30, 2002)
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