Parallel Trading Hurts Livelihoods, Protestors Say

Protestors took to the streets of Sheung Shui on Sunday afternoon to decry a growing influx of so-called parallel traders in the border town.

They accused the government of failing to do enough to curb the influx of traders, who buy goods in Hong Kong to resell on the mainland, leveraging the SAR's lower taxes, and the perceived higher quality of some goods here.

"The parallel trading activities seriously affect the livelihood of people in North District, especially when traders block the road," said Democratic Party lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting.

He said traders also blocked the area with heavy luggage, and said stores devoted to goods popular with traders had pushed up rents, forcing out stores that local people relied on.

The protesters want the government to restrict people who live and work in Shenzhen from visiting more than eight times a year.

A limit of one visit a week for Shenzhen residents and workers was implemented earlier, after a previous round of protests against parallel trading.

However a group of about 15 people staged a counter-protest. Led by pro-Beijing activist Chan Ching-sum, they accused the anti-parallel-trading group of attempting to stir up cross border tensions.