Passengers wait in line at the arrivals hall at Hong Kong International Airport in Hong Kong on Aug 10, 2021. (PHOTO / BLOOMBERG)

Insurers including AIA Group Ltd and Prudential Plc just got some good news for their business prospects in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR): the gradual return of Chinese mainland visitors.

The HKSAR government announced on Tuesday that it would allow visitors from the mainland and Macau SAR into the city without mandatory quarantine starting from Sept 15. The travel program will allow 2,000 non-HKSAR residents a day from the two places. 

The limited number of entry for the mainland visitors might not move the needle for insurers like AIA, which once counted on the mainland travelers for as much as half of its insurance sales from the HKSAR

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The limited number might not move the needle for insurers like AIA, which once counted on the mainland travelers for as much as half of its insurance sales from the HKSAR. 

Still, it presages further relaxation that could boost the two along with China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Steven Lam wrote on Tuesday.

The HKSAR’s insurance business focusing on the mainland visitors has been decimated in recent years, first by social unrest, then by pandemic travel curbs. Sales to such clients slumped to 11 policies a day in the first half, from 1,187 two years earlier, Lam wrote.

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The news boosted stocks that stand to benefit. AIA’s shares rose as much as 0.3 percent to the highest in more than a week. China Taiping climbed as much as 1.3 percent to the highest since early July. Beauty product retailer Sa Sa International Holdings Ltd jumped more than 7 percent while Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group gained 5.5 percent.