(Yicai Global) Feb. 13 -- The full reopening of travel between Shenzhen in China’s Guangdong province and the country’s Hong Kong Special Administrative Region has made life much easier for local businesses and commuters, with shopping malls seeing a gradual return to normal. 

Hong Kong initiated the first stage of border reopening on Jan. 8. All the remaining restrictions were lifted on Feb. 6, with no requirements for Covid-19 test results, no limits on the number of people traveling across the border and also no need for early clearance arrangements for border exit and entry. 

Xu Ke, chief executive of LaSense Technology, told Yicai Global that the company’s research and development teams are based in Hong Kong and during the pandemic its Shenzhen and Hong Kong staff could only communicate with each other online.

Xu started the business in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Cooperation Zone in 2020, and he now spends half of his time in Shenzhen and the other half in Hong Kong, which makes it easier to deal with overseas orders. 

The authorities dealing with exit and entry in Shenzhen’s various districts have also become more busy. An employee at the public security bureau in Longhua district told Yicai Global that people are now lining up in front of the 24-hour self-service machine for Hong Kong and Macao pre-travel registration at 10 a.m., and there are often people there until midnight. 

About 90 percent of the customers in Luohu Commercial City, known as a shopping paradise for people from Hong Kong, are Hong Kong residents. The retail complex had seen sharply reduced business for three years, but since the re-opening of the Luohu border crossing in Shenzhen the crowds have returned.  

A tailor surnamed Peng in a shop selling suits in Luohu Commercial City told Yicai Global that most of the stores in the complex restarted their businesses on Feb. 6 and the number of customers is much larger than during the pandemic. 

The number of people crossing the Hong Kong SAR border has risen hugely in the last week. From Feb. 6 to 9, about 1.14 million travelers entered and exited through various land control points, Yicai Global learned from official data. 

Editors: Shi Yi, Tom Litting