In order to stimulate the economy, the Hong Kong government issued the second phase of this year's consumer coupon to the citizens of Hong Kong just in the past Sunday (July 16).Although the typhoon hit Hong Kong that day, many citizens received consumer vouchers worth 2,000 Hong Kong dollars (below, S $ 338), and still went out to shopping for shopping as soon as possible to enjoy consumption fun as soon as possible.
From the TV news screen, the people of major shopping malls and restaurants are surging, and many shops have lined up the long dragons in front of the cashier.The retailers interviewed said in a high saying that the measures to send consumer coupons this time will bring them 10 % to 20 % of their operating growth.
But this hot scene is probably just a fierce fire.According to the data from the Hong Kong Statistics Department, in the first five months of this year, Hong Kong's retail industry sales were only 171.9 billion Hong Kong dollars, a decrease of 16.6%compared with the epidemic.Hong Kong society has recovered after the epidemic this year. The pace of retail recovery is still slow, and it has not yet returned to the peak of the past.
One of the reasons for the rebound of retail markets in Hong Kong is that many Hong Kong people recovered foreign travel consumption after the epidemic.For example, after re -switching in Mainland China and Hong Kong in February this year, Hong Kong people went to the Mainland to consume.Taking the last week of June this year as an example, the tourists who passed the Guanzuan to the north of Hong Kong turned out to be 2.6 times for tourists in Hong Kong in the same period.
Many Hong Kong people choose to go to the Mainland to consume because the traffic between the two places has become more and more convenient in recent years. In addition, the renminbi exchange Hong Kong dollars is a new low. It is cheaper to eat, drink, and play in the Mainland than Hong Kong.One -day trip.Hong Kong people can be seen at any time on the streets, shopping malls and restaurants in Shenzhen.Some Internet celebrity shops, such as "Master Bao" and "Tai Ercanus Fish", which were raised a few years ago, have become a must -buy letter for many Hong Kong people.
On the other hand, although the retail market is obviously improved after the social recovery, because the global economic atmosphere is not clear, many Hong Kong people can save it in daily life.A friend who opened a restaurant said that some of the colleagues around him had been in the epidemic. He thought that the business would improve after the epidemic. Unexpectedly, the business was as soon as the epidemic, but some restaurants were forced to get business.
At the same time, the number of travelers visiting Hong Kong in the past six months is not satisfactory. Compared with the peak of the epidemic, there is still a long distance from the epidemic period, and it has further hit the retail market in Hong Kong.
Data show that after Hong Kong resumed the full customs clearance at the beginning of this year, the number of visitors to Hong Kong in the first half of the year was approximately 13 million, only about 40 % of the first half of 2018.The reason is that in addition to the unpleasant experience of some mainland tourists in Hong Kong, it has damaged Hong Kong's image, but also related to the Chinese government's policies.
The Chinese economy has only increased by 3%under the dragging of anti -epidemic measures last year, and its performance has been the worst in the past few decades.After the official cancellation of anti -epidemic measures earlier this year, the Chinese economy rebounded, but soon lost motivation.China Customs is a measure of strict implementation to prevent domestic people's capital capital.
I have been going to Shenzhen for almost half a year. I found that Shenzhen Customs has a X -ray machine at all ports, asking passengers to put luggage, backpacks, handbags, and paper bags on it on it to be tested on it.In the past, Shenzhen Customs only checked the passenger's suitcase.
According to the regulations of Chinese customs, each person can only carry up to 20,000 yuan (S $ 3600) at a time of each person.If the customs found by the customs when passing the customs exceed the specified amount, it may be fined.As a result, many mainlanders who originally intended to go shopping in Hong Kong were changed to other cities in the Mainland, or they did not dare to bring a large amount of cash to Hong Kong.
Last month, I had a similar experience.I returned to Hong Kong on the high -speed rail at Shenzhen that day. When I passed the level at the Xilong High -speed Railway Station, I was stopped and checked backpack by a Shenzhen customs officer.After the officer found that I was carrying the renminbi excess, I asked me to return to Shenzhen to deposit the RMB into the Mainland bank and return to Hong Kong.As a result, I took two hours to return to Hong Kong's home once.
Talking about this with friends who are familiar with the national conditions, I puzzled: Now everyone can pay with the Internet. Can the mainland government restrict the exit of cash will be effective?Friends explained that when the mainland citizens shopping in Hong Kong returned to the Mainland. If the mainland customs found that they bought too much, they would further ask for the consumption record of passenger mobile phones.This measure has cracked down on the intention of the mainland people to consume in Hong Kong.
I checked it online, and she found many cases.Some mainland netizens displayed the import tax payment certificate of Shenzhen Customs on social platforms. They complained that Hong Kong tourism bought several brand -name handbags. After the customs officer was discovered, the tax was added.It turned out that according to the Chinese Customs Law, the residents and passengers of the immigration carried the self -use items obtained abroad, with a tax -free amount of only 5,000 yuan, and the rest were taxed.
The strict investigation of customs in the Mainland also affects Hong Kong parallelists on the other hand.After Hong Kong and the Mainland ports were fully cleared this year, the smuggling activities of parallelists died.However, some parallelists have been tightly stopped by Shenzhen Customs, and they have never dared to bring the goods since then.A few days ago, I discovered the MTR Shangshui Station in the "distribution of goods" market a few days ago. The lively scenes of sending goods and picking up goods in the past are no longer seen.Shao was also impacted.
All signs show that in order to improve the domestic economy, the Chinese government has increasingly encouraged the people to consume in the Mainland.Under this national policy, even if the Hong Kong Government strengthened to vigorously promote Hong Kong in the Mainland, it is difficult to attract more mainlanders to go shopping in Hong Kong.The Hong Kong retail market will restore the former peak, I am afraid there is still a long way to go.
