Yachts from Guangdong province are expected to get the clearance to sail south to Hong Kong as early as next month.

Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan said on Saturday the move is expected to boost cross-boundary leisure spending and benefit Hong Kong’s yacht economy.

The yacht economy was designated as a key growth area for the special administrative region’s tourism industry in both the city’s inaugural Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development (2026-30) and this year’s Policy Address delivered by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Wednesday.

The development blueprint says Hong Kong should ramp up its yacht berthing capacity, provide more berthing facilities and attract more yachts, including superyachts, to visit the city.

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Both documents pledged to actively roll out convenience measures for the travel of yachts in both directions across the Hong Kong-Guangdong boundary.

As part of a wider “yacht economy” strategy for the region, the central authorities’ approval of a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao individual yacht program in May this year has eased the passage of private vessels from the Hong Kong and Macao SARs into and out of nine Chinese mainland cities in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area.

The first batch of Hong Kong yachts sailed north in June under the arrangement.

Contact the writer at wanqing@chinadailyhk.com