HONG KONG, May 30 (Xinhua) - The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government on Saturday welcomed the State Council's approval of exemption from guarantee policy, enabling Hong Kong and Macao yachts to access the nine mainland cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) under temporary registration arrangements.
According to the State Council's announcement, it approved the exemption from the guarantee requirement and the implementation of temporary ship nationality registration for Hong Kong and Macao yachts, when they temporarily enter and exit the Chinese mainland through designated ports in the nine GBA cities and navigate only within these cities.
A spokesperson for the Transport and Logistics Bureau of the HKSAR government said that under the new policy, the exemption for the requirement for a guarantee will significantly reduce the financial burden on owners of Hong Kong and Macao yachts when handling cross-border procedures. Meanwhile, the temporary ship nationality registration allows Hong Kong and Macao yachts to obtain temporary ship nationality certificates issued by the mainland without affecting their original ship registration, enabling individual yacht travel within the waters of the nine mainland cities in the GBA.
The Marine Department of the HKSAR government is actively coordinating with the Guangdong Maritime Safety Administration on facilitation measures for the southbound travel for yachts from the mainland. Details will be announced in due course once finalized. ■
