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Tourism cooperation between Hong Kong and Mainland
20/9/2004 9:38

Wendy Zhang/ Shanghai Daily news

The Hong Kong Tourism Board has signed a cooperative memo with China UnionPay Co Ltd in Hong Kong to announce the establishment of a long-term partnership, the Xinmin Evening News reported today.
The two sides will jointly expand the tourism and payment service sectors in both Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.
Under the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) announced last year, China UnionPay issued yuan-denominated bank cards in Hong Kong. By the end of last month, arrangements were made with 74 banks from the Chinese mainland to handle their UnionPay bank card businesses in Hong Kong, and more than 10,000 merchants there are accepting payments through bank cards with the UnionPay logo.
As of January 18 this year, consumers from the Chinese mainland have drawn a combined HK$440 million (US$56.4 million) from the automatic teller machines (ATMs) in Hong Kong and consumed a total of HK$1.65 billion through point of sales (POS) machines, with the two figures increasing at a monthly double-digit pace.
"We will cooperate with The Hong Kong Tourism Board for more promotions in the future in order to offer more quality services to the tourists from the Chinese mainland," said Wan Jianhua, president with the China UnionPay Co Ltd.
During the upcoming National Day holiday, the two sides will hold a lucky-draw activity in Hong Kong for consumers with UnionPay cards.