The Chief Executive of Hong Kong Wednesday encouraged immigration department to further improve its check points efficiency and serve as a strategic gateway of the Pearl River Delta region.

When visiting Lok Ma Chau control point, Chief Executive of Hong Kong Donald Tsang said, "We all know that an efficient immigration control plays a significant role in Hong Kong's long-term competitiveness and I am confident that our officers will continue to demonstrate their professionalism to help maintain the prosperity of Hong Kong and facilitate the cross-boundary movements of Hong Kong people."

Accompanied by the Director of Immigration, Lai Tung-kwok, Tsang visited the Automatic Passenger Clearance annex and the Automatic Vehicle Clearance kiosks where he was introduced to the operation of self-service arrival and departure immigration clearance through fingerprint recognition and smart-card technology.

To date, 194 e-channels have been brought into operation at various control points to provide self-service immigration clearance for Hong Kong permanent residents.

Source: Xinhua