GUANGDONG: Pharmacies at Sheung Shui say they lost between 30 to 50 per cent of their business on Monday, as Shenzhen customs launched a crackdown on parallel trading at one of their border checkpoints.
The mainland operation, which began at the weekend, left the space between Lok Ma Chau checkpoint in Hong Kong and Futian port in Shenzhen packed with thousands of travellers for hours on Sunday, as officers carried out more rigid inspections.
While tourists and residents complained about the extra hours spent queuing, some veteran parallel traders said the tightened checking had little impact on their operations.
Alran Yeung, a manager at a Shenug Shui pharmacy – a popular district for parallel traders to buy goods, which are later sold across the border at a profit – told the Post there was an “apparent decline” in the number of traders to his shop on Monday, and he saw sales drop 30 to 40 per cent.
“It was not the first time,” Yeung said. “Whenever the Shenzhen customs launch operations [to crackdown on parallel trading], business on the next day would be slower.”
But Yeung said the number of traders would return to normal three or four days after the crackdown. “I would not worry about that,” he said.
A newly-opened pharmacy, Leung On at Shek Wu Hui, also experienced a quiet morning on Monday. A shop manager said sales had dropped by around 40 to 50 per cent.
Shenzhen customs could not be immediately reached for comment. A patrolman at the arrival hall at Futian check point told the Post that customs launched such crackdowns from time to time and Sunday’s operation was particularly rigid.
Hong Kong parallel-trading protesters who berated a mother and her child in Tuen Mun sentenced
The officer also told the media that some traders would chose a time to cross the border together, a common tactic used to put pressure on customs officers.
Despite the stepped-up efforts, some parallel traders did not seem concerned.
According to reports from mainland media, Shenzhen customs began operations to combat parallel trading a month ago.
Huang Ziyi, a veteran parallel trader, successfully managed to cross checkpoints of both sides on Monday morning, with a few boxes of Yakult, a popular Japanese drink. “It was very easy to pass the checkpoint this morning,” Huang told the Post. Huang said that he felt that customs had stepped up efforts to check travellers’ bags recently. But he said he had a way to deal with it.
“I would just send those products back to Hong Kong if I got caught, and then try to bring them to Shenzhen next time I cross the border,” Huang said.
Cai Yuying, a Shenzhen daigou, or professional shopper, said she had switched over to Luohu port – another checkpoint between Hong Kong and Shenzhen – to cross the border, as customs officers there checked bags less frequently.
