New travel policy may help HK's low-end retailers

Low-end Hong Kong retailers are expected to benefit when non-permanent Shenzhen residents are allowed to start visiting the city with multi-entry permits, which will likely happen sometime this month.

However, the new travel policy will be of little help to the dismal luxury-goods sector as well as to the slowing overall retail market, analysts said.

The new visitors, who will be able to visit Hong Kong on a regular basis, are expected to buy mostly daily necessities in the primary retail sector rather than high-end goods, such as watches and jewelry, said Jiang Lu, a Hong Kong-based economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co.