The man who heads the One Country, Two Systems Research Institute, Cheung Chi-Kong, on Monday clarified his earlier remarks that had set off a controvery. Cheung said the special development zone the institute had suggested earlier for the Hong Kong Shenzhen border would be a visa-on-arrival location and would not offer visa-free access to mainland tourists.

Cheung was responding to accusations that the institute wanted to sell out the city's border area to Shenzhen.

Cheung, who is also a member of the Executive Council, said the suggestion to develop the border areas was not aimed at blurring the boundaries with the mainland, but to make it easy for tourists to enter and to create jobs for the city.

The suggested development zone, brought forward by the institute in a report published two years ago, proposes release of more lands for development. In the meantime, it would allow people from the mainland to shop and attend business meetings in the designated areas.

Cheung said the SAR government is the gatekeeper over entries and it can decide who should be allowed to enter the areas and who should not.

Rejecting some concerns that the plan will create trouble for Hong Kong people who wish to enter the special areas, Fang Zhou, a member of the institute, said it would take only seconds for Hong Kong people to enter. "No documents will be needed for entry by Hong Kong people entering from the Hong Kong side of the zone," said Fang.

Fang said tourists from the mainland will be restricted to the special area if they enter on the visa-on-arrival system. If they wish to go to other areas of Hong Kong outside the zone, the normal travel documents as requested by the Individual Visit Scheme will be needed, continued Fang.

Fang said the suggested areas, one-fourth of the 2,800 hectares of the frontier closed area, will be designated for high-end economic activity and become a new urban business center of Hong Kong. "The capacity of Hong Kong in space, facilities and services is insufficient now. The border will provide more land to cool down the ever-increasing rents in the Central and harbor areas," said Fang.

Fang added that the favorite shopping areas of tourists have seen drastic rent increases in the past few years, which in turn has created inconvenience for local small business operators and residents. Therefore, the institute proposed a new business center, to divert tourist flow and relieve the tension stemming from the flooding of tourists into the major shopping areas of Hong Kong, said Fang.

In the meantime, the plan will create more jobs for those who live in the New Territories and thus greatly shorten the time for commuting.

Fang also dismissed some reports in local media that the North East New Territories New Development Areas development plan proposed by the government in 2009 and currently in public consultation - will be included in the special development zone.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 08/28/2012 page1)