The central government has greenlighted yachts from Hong Kong and Macau to enter nine mainland Chinese cities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) without customs guarantees and with temporary ship registrations.

The State Council said on Friday that the pilot scheme came into effect the same day.

The nine cities are Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing.

The State Council also said it had “temporarily adjusted” two maritime ordinances to relax restrictions for Hong Kong and Macau yachts travelling to the Greater Bay Area.

The Hong Kong government said on Saturday that it welcomed the new policy.

“Under the new policy, the exemption [from] the requirement for a guarantee will significantly reduce the financial burden” on yacht owners, it said in a statement.

It also praised the simplified registration scheme, which allows Hong Kong and Macau yachts to obtain temporary national ship registration from mainland China “without affecting their original ship registration.”

Owners of Hong Kong and Macau yachts previously had to pay hefty customs guarantees and undergo complex registration procedures before entering mainland ports.

According to the Saturday statement, the Hong Kong Marine Department will “continuously review and refine the facilitation measures for the northbound travel of yachts from Hong Kong and southbound travel for yachts from the Chinese Mainland to foster a healthy, sustainable and competitive environment for the development of the local yacht economy.”

Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee first proposed boosting the local yacht economy in his 2025 Policy Address in September.

The following month, the government announced new initiatives, including providing 600 additional yacht berths at the former Lamma Quarry, expanding the Aberdeen Typhoon Shelter and the Hung Hom Station waterfront projects, and a planned yacht bay at Airport City.