There have been 160 Mainland Travel Permits for foreign permanent residents of Macao distributed since applications began on 10 July. That’s according to TDM, which cited recent data from China Travel Service (CTS), the state-owned firm responsible for handling the process.
CTS also noted that 1,400 applications are in their final stages of processing, while more than 2,000 booking requests have been made online.
As of 10 July, over 20,000 applications for the permit had been received by CTS’s Macao and Hong Kong office, according to CCTV.
“Of course, this new policy is very good,” said Cheung Ka-ho, a Hong Kong school manager who organised a mainland study tour for ethnic minority students using the permits. Speaking to CCTV, he said that “it’s even more convenient and it gives greater incentive for everyone to go to the mainland for exchange and to have fun.”
[See more: What to know about the Mainland Travel Permit for non-Chinese permanent residents of Macao and Hong Kong]
Back in late July, CTS issued the first batch of non-Chinese Mainland Travel Permits to 23 foreign permanent residents of Macao. Nearly half were Portuguese citizens, while the remainder were nationals from Canada, the Philippines and Vietnam.
First announced on 1 July, the non-Chinese Mainland Travel Permits allow foreign permanent residents of Macao and Hong Kong to travel to mainland China visa-free. Previously, this right had been reserved for only permanent residents with Chinese nationality.
Holders of the five-year permit may make multiple trips to the mainland, with each one lasting no more than 90 days. There are, however, restrictions in terms of the types of activities that permit holders can engage in while stationed in the mainland, with employment, study and media-related work all strictly prohibited.
According to data from the Identification Bureau sighted by Macao News, there were approximately 19,500 non-Chinese permanent residents of Macao as of 30 June.
