London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

Business chambers back Hong Kong’s easing of Covid-19 entry rules

Business chambers back Hong Kong’s easing of Covid-19 entry rules

New requirements are compromise between needed checks and necessary travel, although some details are complicated, they say.

Influential business chambers have given the thumbs up to the government’s decision to gradually reopen Hong Kong’s borders to global travel but called for further easing in quarantine requirements for people vaccinated against Covid-19.

The new requirements were a compromise between needed checks and necessary travel, although some of the details were complicated, said the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong on Tuesday.

Beginning next Monday, the government will allow residents to return home from high-risk places and lift the ban on non-residents entering from countries deemed medium-risk. But all arrivals will be required to undergo quarantine of varying lengths at designated hotels.

George Leung, chief executive of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce.


George Leung Siu-Kay, the chief executive of the local business chamber, welcomed the decision.

“The new boarding and quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers are a compromise of necessary checks and balances, while at the same time permitting necessary travel for certain sectors,” Leung said. “We hope this can be extended to other sectors if the quarantine requirements prove to be effective.”

Hong Kong has remained in near lockdown for almost 18 months, slowing its economic recovery, and struggled to balance the interests of reopening the border and containing the pandemic.

“As Hong Kong is a key gateway to mainland China and many businesses have operations across the border, it is crucial that necessary travel north of the border can resume, or there is a risk that businesses may have no choice but to relocate their offices to the mainland,” Leung said.

The prospect of allowing quarantine-free travel over the border has been complicated by the flare-up of fresh outbreaks on the mainland, with many cases involving the more transmissible Delta variant.

Hong Kong has successfully brought the local pandemic under control, and as of Tuesday had gone 57 consecutive days without any local cases.

Tara Joseph, president of the American business group, described the government’s decision to allow in non-residents from medium-risk countries such as the United States and Canada as the right approach, although she said the details were complicated.

“It is a positive sign that the government is thinking through the implications of previous quarantine measures and thinking more broadly about families and folks of people who live here in a more holistic approach,” she told the Post. “It is the first light at the end of the tunnel.”

Tara Joseph, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.


Under the new approach, the five tiers for assessing the Covid-19 risk posed by nations will be streamlined into three, thereby removing entry bans on Brazil, Britain, India, Indonesia and the Philippines.

An entry ban on non-residents from countries deemed at medium risk of infection, such as the United States, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Italy, Japan, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates, will be lifted but arrivals must be vaccinated and will be subject to compulsory quarantine.

Joseph said the strategy of adopting greater vaccination requirements and compulsory testing was much better than “locking people up in a room without windows” for up to 21 days.

“A lot of companies in Hong Kong are facing pressure from their headquarters in the US due to the [existing] extreme quarantine measures,” she said. “Those measures will only push people out of Hong Kong.”

In a separate development, the Hong Kong Tourism Board will offer about 20,000 spots on local tours, worth HK$10 million (US$1.28 million), to vaccinated residents.

The lucky draw will be open to adult identity card holders who had received one vaccine shot in the city. About 10,000 winners will be chosen, with each person receiving two spots.

Board chairman Pang Yiu-kai said such offers had a multiplying effect on spending.

“Until the door is open for leisure travel, there is mainly local tourism,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Sino Group, donated 20 scholarships valued at HK$200,000 each for a lucky draw open to vaccinated residents aged between 12 and 18.

Those holding a Hong Kong identity card and who had received one dose of vaccine in the city on or before September 30 can register for the event from September 2.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×