Hong Kong Expands Southbound Travel Scheme for Guangdong Vehicles, Enhancing Cross-Boundary Connectivity. – Charm

Expansion arrangements of Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles announced

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government today (June 8) announced the expansion arrangements of Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles (Southbound Travel Scheme).

The Guangdong and Hong Kong governments implemented the Southbound Travel Scheme in end-2025, launching the part concerning the entry into the Hong Kong urban area by Guangdong vehicles (entry into urban area), and the “Park & Fly” service of the automated car park (port carpark) at the Hong Kong Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB). Alongside Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles, the scheme enables mutual engagement through cross-boundary self-driving.

Since its implementation half a year ago, the scheme has been operating in a smooth and orderly manner. The numbers of applications and travel bookings have been on the rise. As at end of May 2026, for entry into urban area, around 8 400 applications have been approved, with a total of around 6 700 travel bookings. During the past Labour Day Golden Week of the Mainland, the bookings were oversubscribed by two to three times. As for the “Park & Fly” service of the port carpark, over 8 600 user registration applications have been received, with a total of over 4 000 bookings. These numbers are expected to continue to rise.

Taking into account the port operations, overall road traffic conditions, user feedback and public adaptation, the Guangdong and Hong Kong governments agreed to gradually expand the Southbound Travel Scheme to all of Guangdong Province. As the first step, in the middle of this year, the scheme will be expanded to all the nine Mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) (i.e. adding Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing) (new cities); the travel booking quota of entry into urban area will be increased from 100 to 200 vehicles per day (each vehicle shall remain to stay in Hong Kong for up to three days); and the “Park & Visit” service of the port carpark will be launched.

Guangdong and Hong Kong will first allow Guangdong vehicles of the new cities to use the “Park & Fly” service of the port carpark starting from June 15 this year. Guangdong vehicles of the new cities will be allowed to enter Hong Kong via the HZMB and the travel booking quota will be increased starting from July 25, and at the same time the “Park & Visit” service for Guangdong vehicles of all the nine Mainland cities will be launched. Guangdong and Hong Kong will continue to monitor the implementation arrangements, and subject to the implementation situation, target to expand the scheme to all 21 cities in Guangdong Province by the first quarter in 2027.

The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Ms Mable Chan, expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the staunch support of the Central Government and the Guangdong Provincial Government in jointly taking forward the Southbound Travel Scheme in a prudent manner. “The northbound and southbound travel arrangements have opened up a new model for residents to travel between the two places by self-driving, fostering a new ground for the connectivity within the GBA through the HZMB. The Southbound Travel Scheme has been implemented in a prudent and orderly manner, and has achieved readiness for further gradual expansion. Under the strategies of ensuring safety, an effective diversion, well-equipped supporting facilities, and streamlined application processes, the HKSAR Government will continue to take forward the Southbound Travel Scheme, enabling the inflow of additional tourists from more Mainland cities, including individuals and families with higher purchasing power, to help drive Hong Kong’s economic growth, and promote the integrated development of Guangdong and Hong Kong to a new level,” Ms Chan said.

Implementation details

The key dates of opening of application, booking, and travel for users of the new cities are as follows:

Entry into urban area Starting from 9am on June 9 To register for balloting with the Mainland authorities Starting from 9am on June 29 Successful balloting applicants to submit applications to the Mainland authorities Starting from 0.00am on July 25 To travel to Hong Kong via the HZMB according to the designated date of the successful booking Port carparks “Park & Fly” Starting from 9am on June 9 To submit booking application Starting from 0.00am on June 15 After parking at the carpark via the HZMB, travellers to transfer to flight at Hong Kong International Airport “Park & Visit”* Starting from 9am on July 16 To submit booking application Starting from 0.00am on July 25 After parking at the carpark via the HZMB, travellers to go through immigration formalities at the HZMB Passenger Clearance Building and then transfer to local public transportation to travel to various districts in Hong Kong

* The “Park & Visit” service will be made available for all nine Mainland cities in the GBA at the same time.

For information regarding the specific application and travel booking guidelines under the Southbound Travel Scheme, please visit the following websites:

Guangdong’s Southbound Travel for Guangdong Vehicles Information System(Chinese only)(ycnx.singlewindow.gd.cn)

The Transport Department’s dedicated webpage for the Southbound Travel Scheme (www.td.gov.hk/en/public_services/licences_and_permits/southboundtravel/stfgveiua/index.html)

The dedicated webpage jointly developed by the Insurance Authority and the Hong Kong Federation of Insurers (Chinese only) (sbt.hkfi.org.hk)

Hong Kong International Airport automated car parks online booking system (autoparking.hkairport.com)

HKTE visits Germany and France to attract European innovation and technology talent through hackathon

Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) has visited Germany and France, and concluded a four-day visit to Germany today (June 8, Munich time).

During the visit, HKTE introduced Hong Kong’s unique strengths and various talent admission schemes to local innovation and technology (I&T) organisations in Munich. HKTE subsequently co-organised a hackathon with the EuroTech Federation on June 6 and 7 (Munich time), with the Director of HKTE, Mr Felix Chan, serving as an award presenter.

In his remarks, Mr Chan stressed that Hong Kong, with the distinctive advantage of having strong support from the motherland and close connection with the world, and being an integral part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), offers tremendous opportunities and is an ideal place for young European I&T talent with entrepreneurial aspirations to pursue their development. Hong Kong is proactively attracting more top global talent to support the city in building an international I&T centre as well as an international hub for high-calibre talent.

Mr Chan added that HKTE held a pitch competition for I&T start-ups in Munich as well as arranged for the German winners to visit Hong Kong and Shenzhen last year. The winners unanimously opined that the trip helped them understand the I&T ecosystem in the GBA, and they would actively consider pursuing their development in Hong Kong.

This year’s competition was expanded to cover young I&T entrepreneurs across Europe, and about 1 200 applications were received. Around 250 finalists competed in four categories, namely FinTech, HealthTech, Smart City, and Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, for a period of over 30 hours. Sixteen winners were selected.

The judging panel comprised representatives from Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park Limited, FinTech Association of Hong Kong, as well as representatives from the EuroTech Federation and local I&T experts. HKTE will also arrange for the winners to tour Hong Kong and other GBA cities in September this year to explore the I&T ecosystem, industry support, and entrepreneurial opportunities in the region.

The HKTE delegation, together with the Hong Kong judges, travelled to Paris, France, today to commence its two-day promotion programme there to meet and exchange ideas with local I&T entrepreneurs.