Guangdong residents can now go abroad or beyond the border more easily, as a result of Guangdong police's continued efforts to further simplify the formalities to be completed by people wishing to go abroad or to Hong Kong and Macao on business, to visit relatives or for sightseeing.

Firstly, we have lifted many of the restrictions on the endorsement for business trips to Hong Kong and Macao, examining and approving the applications according to the need, and making it available to more people. Applications for permission to take business trips to Hong Kong and Macao by all kinds of enterprises will be processed promptly and 3-month multi-trip endorsement or 15-day single-trip endorsement will be issued to those who need to go there. As to those enterprises which are big tax payers and foreign exchange earners and have been put on the records of the local entry/exit administration, they may get one-year or three-year multi-trip endorsements (whereas they could only get 6-month multi-trip endorsement before). Beginning from March 1, more people can apply for an endorsement for business trips to Hong Kong and Macao, including such non-government workers as employees of institutions of higher learning, research institutes, hospitals, law offices, certified public accountants' offices, auditors' offices etc in addition to the current categories of traders from various enterprises and Chinese employees of foreign organizations in China.

Secondly, we have introduced the 2000-edition Mainland Residents' Travel Permit for Hong Kong and Macao and endorsement.  Formalities for Guangdong residents to visit relatives in Hong Kong and Macao have been further simplified. We now issue 3-month multi-trip endorsement to those who go there to visit relatives. At present, different types of Hong and Macao travel permits are issued to people who go to these places for different purposes-on business, to visit relatives or for sight-seeing, which is a big waste of resources and causes inconvenience to the masses and public security organs. With the introduction of the new Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permit, people can carry one and the same permit when traveling to these places, whatever their purposes are, whether to visit relatives, for sightseeing, on business, or to take up a job there. The original 8-page and 16-page travel permits have been upgraded to be a 32-page travel permit, which can be used for a longer period of time. In case the holder needs to go to Hong Kong or Macao again, what he has to do is simply to get an endorsement sticker affixed on his/her travel permit, instead of applying for a new travel permit. After the applications have been approved by the local public security organs, this Administration will personalize the 2000-edition Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permits and have them delivered to the recipients in the respective cities/counties.
Beginning from the first half of this year, people who need to go to Hong Kong or Macao to visit relatives can get 1-month single-trip, 3-month single-trip and 3-month multi-trip endorsements according to the need. Compared with the present endorsement, which allows only one trip and is valid for only one month, the 3-month multi-trip endorsement is great news to couples who live separately in Hong Kong/Macao and Guangdong province. A new practice will be adopted throughout the province before June 1, by which all the applications, no matter where the applicants are, for visiting relatives in Hong Kong and Macao will be processed according to the date of the planned exit. When an applicant files the application, the policeman on duty will decide on an exit date for the applicant by referring to both the applicant's need and the waiting list. This exit date will be printed on the receipt (usually within 3 months from the filing of the application). If this applicant needs to go to Hong Kong or Macao later in the same year, he/she has only to submit a completed application form, without any need to submit other materials or documents showing the approval of the trip by leaders of his/her work unit.

Thirdly, we shall start the pilot programme of issuing blank Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permits to the applicants after seeing their ID card and Household Register. At present, the 2000-edition Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permit is personalized at this Administration, but the endorsement sticker is issued by the local public security bureaus. To shorten the processing time, we shall choose one or two cities as pilots and, after setting up a comprehensive filing system, introduce the practice of issuing blank Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permits to the applicants after seeing their ID card and Household Register. When the holder of such a permit needs to go to Hong Kong or Macao, he has only to go to the local entry/exit administration to apply for the necessary endorsement. At the same time, the formalities for going to Hong Kong and Macao for visiting relatives or sightseeing will be further simplified. An applicant with a valid Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permit and relevant materials can go straight to the local public security organ to apply for an endorsement for a trip to Hong Kong or Macao for visiting relatives or sightseeing, without any need to get approved by the police station or work unit (except those persons who come under special categories). This practice will be introduced step by step to all the cities/counties in this province, depending on their readiness.
Fourthly, we shall gradually lift the restrictions on organized tours to Hong Kong and Macao. Currently, people can join only those tour groups organized by travel agencies of the place of their residence or temporary residence, and the travel agencies in turn can only have people who are registered residents of the area as their customers. Therefore both the tourists and the travel agencies feel the inconvenience caused by such restrictions. After the introduction of the 2000-edition Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permit, we plan to make it possible for people to join group tours organized in a place other than the place of their registered residence, so long as they carry a valid Hong Kong and Macao Travel Permit. The travel agency collects the travel permits and apply to the public security bureau of the local prefecture-level or higher level city for tourism endorsement on behalf of the tourists, with no need of getting the approval from a police station or the work unit (except those persons who come under certain special categories).
Fifthly, the new practice of issuing passports to applicants on seeing only their ID card and Household Register and allowing temporary residents to join organized Hong Kong and Macao tour groups will be adopted by all cities/counties of the province. After reviewing the pilot programme in Zhongshan and other cities, the practice will be adopted in the Pearl River Delta region and other cities that are ready for the new practice. As to other cities/counties of the province, they will all adopt the new practice in 2003.
Sixthly, all passports, travel permits, visas and endorsements will in the future be delivered by express mail service to their recipients throughout the province. At present, Jiangmen and Shunde are doing so, which saves the applicants' trips to the public security bureaus to claim their documents. The new way will shorten the processing time from 15 work-days to 10 work-days and make application simple and easy. The Public Security Department of Guangdong Province has decided to spread this new practice to the Pearl River Delta area and other areas that are ready for it and to all cities/counties in the province.
As officials of the Public Security Department of Guangdong province have pointed out, relaxing the regulations does not mean de-regulation. While lifting some restrictions on entry and exit of residents of this province, public security organs will redouble their efforts in cracking down on all kinds of crimes related with entry and exit, such as wangling entry/exit documents by presenting forged papers and using illegal methods, and smuggling personnel and goods. In Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, Huizhou, Dongguan, Jiangmen and Foshan, a special force under the entry/exit administration will be formed, which is responsible for cracking criminal cases that bring harm to the security of the border areas and maintaining order in entry/exit control in Guangdong province.