HONG KONG/SHANGHAI - GROWING inflationary pressure on the Chinese mainland, led by rising food prices, is driving mainland buyers to Hong Kong to fill their shopping carts - not for the luxury and imported goods the financial hub is known for, but for daily necessities that used to flow the other way.
More and more residents in South China's Guangdong province, especially Shenzhen, have in the past few weeks been queuing to cross the border into Hong Kong to buy sugar, salt, soybean sauce and even tissue paper in bulk to cushion increasing pressure from rising food prices at home.
Figures from the Shatoujiao border station in Shenzhen show that in the past two weeks, the number of people passing the station to visit Hong Kong on weekdays has increased by 16.7 per cent compared with two weeks ago, while at weekends the figure has been up by 27.8 per cent. Many of them are going to the other side to buy daily necessities, according to local media reports.
Only a few years ago it was Hong Kong residents who would come to Shenzhen to spend weekends shopping and dining.
A Shenzhen local woman surnamed Zhang said shopping for supplies in Hong Kong has been the norm for her since 2009, when she was allowed to apply for multiple entries to Hong Kong within one year.
Since then, the number of items on her shopping list has been growing from imported goods to most daily necessities, including products made on the mainland.
Source: CHINA DAILY/ANN
No comments:
Post a Comment