HK shoppers flocking north for bargains, fun and food

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(China Daily) 10:11, April 09, 2024

Customers take photos while dining at the night market in Yantian, Shenzhen, Guangdong province, on July 8. XINHUA

Bianca Lau travels from Hong Kong to Shenzhen in neighboring Guangdong province every two weeks, which she says has become a "fixed schedule" in her life.

She normally goes with two friends, has lunch at a restaurant in downtown Futian district, buys some food and daily necessities from a supermarket, and enjoys a leisurely afternoon tea before heading back to Hong Kong in the evening.

"I don't feel that I am traveling to another city. It only takes about an hour to get to Shenzhen," said Lau, who lives in Sha Tin, in Hong Kong's New Territories. A rich variety of products, reasonable prices and a different shopping experience are the biggest draws for the 36-year-old legal worker to "head north".

"Better cross-boundary transport and payment have also made the trip more pleasant," she said.

Since the full resumption of normal travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland early last year, there has been a growing number of Hong Kong residents flocking to Shenzhen to dine, shop and enjoy the entertainment on offer. According to Hong Kong's Immigration Department, the city's residents made more than 53 million trips to the Chinese mainland last year.

Value for money

The ongoing wave reflects how integration between Hong Kong and Shenzhen is gathering pace, boosted by policy support and improved infrastructure. The appreciation of the Hong Kong dollar against the renminbi over the past year has also boosted Hong Kong residents' spending power on the mainland.

"Many Hong Kong residents hadn't been to the Chinese mainland for years due to the pandemic. So now they are flocking to Shenzhen for 'revenge shopping' to make up for the time lost," said Chong Tai-leung, associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong's Department of Economics.

"It's no longer confined to just one or two people going to Shenzhen each weekend. Whole families are going there together. This structural shift will continue to gain momentum," he said.

Travel has become easy and convenient as the cross-border transportation network has improved greatly in recent years, with the "one-hour living circle" taking shape in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles program, which came into effect last July, also enables eligible Hong Kong private cars to travel to Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Official statistics show that as of March 9, more than 500,000 cross-border trips had been made. The figure for February alone reached over 100,000.

Businesses in Shenzhen are adjusting their strategies and stepping up marketing campaigns to seize the opportunities arising from the influx of Hong Kong residents.

"The most significant trend is that the proportion of catering outlets — especially those in the Chinese specialty cuisine and new-style tea drinks subsectors — in a mall's tenant mix, has increased significantly to meet the growing dining demand from Hong Kong consumers," said Zhang Xiaoduan, deputy dean of Cushman &Wakefield Research Institute.

"This is particularly noticeable in midrange malls near the checkpoints and transit hubs, such as Link CentralWalk and Wongtee Plaza (Futian district)."

The expansion of direct warehouse shopping and grocery chains like Sam's Club, Hema and Costco in Shenzhen has also accelerated, partly to better satisfy the "buy-in-bulk "needs of Hong Kong consumers who travel north to shop every one or two weeks, Zhang said.

Chen Wenhui, retail head of advisory and transaction services at CBRE Southern China, said Hong Kong consumers mainly get information on the Shenzhen retail market from social media platforms like Xiaohongshu.

"The consumption boom has enabled Shenzhen merchants to understand the consumption characteristics of Hong Kong residents, which will boost the confidence of mainland brands in opening up new stores in the SAR," said Chen.

The closer interaction between the two cities, both online and offline, also allows Hong Kong consumers to gain a deeper understanding of the mainland's economic and cultural environment, helping Hong Kong better integrate into the country's overall development, he added.

Trendy travel

According to a survey conducted in February by the Hong Kong Research Association, 25 percent of respondents said they spent on average 1,000 yuan ($141) or more every day when they visited the Chinese mainland in the past year.

While 33 percent said they would reduce spending in Hong Kong as a result, 34 percent said they would not, said the survey, which was based on interviews with 1,007 city residents aged 18 or above.

A Hong Kong media professional surnamed Mok said he spends two or three days in Shenzhen every month for social gatherings and to enjoy gaming.

"I went there for indoor go-karting with a friend at a shopping mall in Longgang district last week," Mok said.