Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki today chaired an inter-departmental working group meeting to instruct various departments to better prepare for receiving visitors during the Mainland's National Day Golden Week from October 1 to 7.

According to the Immigration Department's (ImmD) estimate, around 7.01 million passengers will pass through Hong Kong's sea, land and air control points during Golden Week this year, among which 5.98 million are expected to pass through land control points.

In terms of Mainland inbound visitors, it is estimated that about 1.23 million passengers will visit Hong Kong during Golden Week.

The number of outbound and inbound passengers using land boundary control points will peak on October 1.

The Chief Secretary urged various departments to actively co-ordinate and consolidate supporting services of boundary control points (BCPs), traffic and public transport, promptly respond to various emergency situations and strengthen information dissemination.

The Inter-departmental Joint Command Centre set up by Customs, Police, the ImmD and other departments will be activated from September 28 to October 7 to monitor the real-time situation at various control points.

The command centre will maintain close liaison with the Mainland port authorities and take timely contingency actions to flexibly deploy manpower at the BCPs to ensure the smooth operation of the land control points.

The Security Bureau will also activate the Emergency Monitoring & Support Centre in a timely manner to closely monitor and co-ordinate the public order situation at various BCPs and facilitate inter-departmental follow-up action where necessary to respond promptly to various kinds of emergencies.

Police will arrange sufficient manpower to implement corresponding crowd management measures and special traffic arrangements to ensure that all celebrations will be conducted in a safe and orderly manner. 

The Transport Department's Emergency Transport Co-ordination Centre will operate 24 hours to closely monitor the traffic condition and public transport services of different districts, including various BCPs and major stations.

Deputy Chief Secretary Cheuk Wing-hing, Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung, Under Secretary for Security Michael Cheuk and representatives of relevant bureaus attended the meeting.