Do Chinese citizens require a visa to go to Hong Kong for less than 7 days?

Question

I and my girlfriend (a mainland Chinese citizen) are planning to visit Hong Kong from Malaysia (where we both have MSC working visas), and will also be returning to Malaysia. I have been surprised at all of the restrictions placed on mainland Chinese citizens; it seems that there is a lot of bureaucracy required before a mainland Chinese citizen can enter Hong Kong.

I am trying to find out if there is some way that she can enter Hong Kong for 3-4 days with me (a British citizen) without having to go through the hassle of trying to get a visa.

After a little while reading, I found this exemption clause:

Chinese passport holders who are in transit through Hong Kong from another country, region or territory may be granted a stay of 7 days without the prior need to obtain an entry permit, with the condition of possession of valid Chinese passport and confirmed onward air tickets for the overseas journey. If Chinese passport holders will go for mainland China or Macau via Hong Kong, onward air tickets are not compulsory.

It seems that this could be used to allow her visaless entry to Hong Kong, as we only plan to go for 3-4 days.

So here are my questions based on that 7-day exemption clause:

• Does the "onward air tickets" stipulation apply when flying from and returning to Malaysia, or would it only apply if we were flying on to another country entirely?
• If "onwards air tickets" may not apply in that situation, does flying back to Malaysia via Macao or mainland China permit her to enter without a visa?
• Does simply entering mainland China without flying (for example, using the Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor to drive there) also entitle her to this entry?

I have contacted the Chinese embassy in Malaysia about these questions, but they advised me that they do not know the answer to them (which I find a little surprising).

Answer 1

My reading of that -- and I'm obviously not a Chinese immigration bureaucrat -- is that she's probably OK without the visa, as long as you can make the trip out to be Malaysia->China->Malaysia via Hong Kong on both legs.

• From Malaysia to Hong Kong, as long as she claims to be going to Shenzhen or wherever, she is "in transit through Hong Kong" and "will go for mainland China", so the onward air ticket from HK should not be necessary.
• From Hong Kong back to Malaysia, she fulfills the conditions of "possession of valid visa for the destination and confirmed onward air tickets for the overseas journey".

However, I would have at least three concerns:

1. This scheme is meant for transiting via HK to/from mainland China, but she's not transiting, she's staying in HK. Even a day-trip over the border to (say) Shenzhen would allow her to fulfill the letter of the law and also sort out her HK immigration records.
2. She may be asked for some sort of proof that she's actually going to China, not just Hong Kong. A hotel booking or something in Shenzhen wouldn't hurt, and if you're not joining her in China for visa reasons etc, you'll probably want to go through immigration separately so your presence doesn't raise questions.
3. The airline has to buy into this plan as well, so I would strongly recommend calling the airline and confirming, ideally in writing, that they will let her on board without a visa.

Answer 2

This is official email reply from immigration officer. The purpose must be in transit. (Malaysia > Hong Kong > Malaysia is not considered as transit)

However, you can make two transits as you suggested (Malaysia > Hong Kong > Shenzhen (you should stay at Shenzhen for at least one day), Then Shenzhen > Hong Kong > Malaysia. They consider this as two independent transits)

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail message.
Under the present transit arrangement, holders of People's Republic of China (PRC) passport who are in transit through the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to and from another country or territory (e.g. Foreign country > HKSAR > Mainland China or Mainland China > HKSAR > Foreign country) may be granted a stay of seven days on each landing without prior need to obtain an entry permit. However, if a person wishes to come to the HKSAR for purpose other than transit (e.g. Switzerland > HKSAR > Switzerland or Mainland > HKSAR > Mainland), then this is not treated as a proper purpose of transit.

My second Email:

Dear Ms LAI Hin-yan,
Thanks very much for your explanation.
How about I transit at hong kong like this way:
Switzerland>Hong Kong>Shenzhen (6 days transit in Hong Kong)
Shenzhen>Hong Kong>Switzerland (1 day transit in Hong Kong)
I will stay in Mainland Shenzhen city for 7 days and then back to Hong Kong for transit to Switzerland.
Is it possible?

Reply:

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail message.

Under the present transit arrangement, holders of People's Republic of China (PRC) passport who are in transit through the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) to and from another country or territory (e.g. Switzerland > HKSAR > Mainland China or Mainland China > HKSAR > Switzerland) may be granted a stay of seven days on each landing without prior need to obtain an entry permit.

However, they must satisfy the immigration officer on arrival that they meet with the normal immigration requirements and qualify for entry as bona fide visitors, including possession of adequate funds to cover the duration of stay without working and, unless in transit to Mainland of China, the holding of onward tickets.

I hope you will find the information useful.

Answer 3

According to TIMATIC (the Visa system the airline will likely use when you check-in) :

Visa required, except for Holders of a PRC Travel Document (Lu Xing Zheng) containing an entry permit for Hong Kong (SAR China).

Visa required, except for A max. stay of 7 days for: - holders of passports issued by China (People's Rep.), provided passenger is in transit (incl. overland) to/from a third country.

The specific mention of "to/from a third country" means that a return ticket to Malaysia (presuming that is where you flew from) is NOT sufficient, as is it not a third country.

Flying back via Mainland China or Macao is an interesting case, as it is not technically a third country. The text you quoted includes the fact it can be a different region or territory, however Timatic simply says country.

However even if you are allowed do this whilst in transit to Mainland China or Macao, it's fairly clear that what you are suggesting is NOT in the spirit of the exception. To both the airline and the immigration staff it's going to be very clear that you are not in Hong Kong for the purposes of transit whilst on the way to/from another country, which is the intent of this rule, but instead that Hong Kong is your actual destination.

If you were looking to spend 3 days in Hong Kong and then another 3+ in Mainland China or (say) South Korea then you would be fine - but if your sole destination is Hong Kong then I suspect that you will likely face issues either when attempting to board the flight, or at HK immigration.