The Entry and Exit Department of the Chinese Ministry of Public Security announced that six more cities in mainland China have been approved to run individual travel services to Hong Kong and Macao.

The six cities are Nanchang, Changsha, Nanning, Haikou, Guiyang and Kunming. From May 1, 2006, citizens in these 6 cities can apply for an individual trip to these two regions.

Hong Kong and Macao began to open their travel market to individual tourists from the mainland on June 28, 2003. Until now, they have opened their travel market to 23 cities and 1 province in the mainland.

By the end of 2005, the number of mainland tourists to Hong Kong and Macao for individual trips had reached 21.1 million, of which 11.597 million were for Hong Kong and 9.455 million were for Macao.