Initially, residents of Dongguan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen may apply for an "individual visit" endorsement from the Chinese mainland public security bureau offices to visit Hong Kong.

At present, Chinese mainland residents visiting Hong Kong for sightseeing purpose can only come as members of group tours.

"The scheme will commence in these three cities as a pilot. The aim is to extend the scheme to the whole of Guangdong not later than July 2004," the spokesman was quoted as saying in a government press release on Sunday.

Guangdong residents with permanent household registration in these three cities are eligible to apply for the exit endorsement from the relevant Chinese mainland authorities.

The endorsement is valid for three months and good for one or two visits to Hong Kong. The holder can stay in Hong Kong for seven days on each visit. Eligible applicants may apply for a new endorsement once the current one has expired or has been used up.

There is no quota on the number of endorsements to be issued.

"The pilot scheme will facilitate the entry of Guangdong tourists, which is beneficial to the local tourism, retail and other related industries," said the spokesman.

Last year, about 1.2 million Chinese mainland group tour visitors came to Hong Kong for sightseeing.

(People's Daily June 30, 2003)