Chinese passport holders are now required to show their flight ticket with booked seat at the Zhuhai checkpoints in order to pass into Macau, in addition to producing the relevant visa for their declared destination country.

The new regulation, effective December 2014, stipulates that in order to travel to the SARs, mainland residents must possess an Exit-Entry Permit for Travelling to and from Hong Kong and Macau, as well as an Exit Endorsement, all of which are issued by the mainland immigration authorities.

Chinese passport holders are permitted to enter the SARs as transit passengers and stay in the territory for up to five days on condition they possess a valid visa to another country and declare that they will depart within the granted period of stay.

In 2013, the Zhuhai checkpoints recorded some 2 million people entering Macau with a Chinese passport who did not actually depart for another country as declared.

Mainland Chinese passport holders transiting in Macau to and from another country or territory are now granted a maximum stay of five days, instead of the previous seven.

The Gongbei Checkpoint has announced that mainland residents who intend to enter Macau as transit passengers are required to show a flight ticket with their booked seat, in addition to the existing requirements. Accordingly, the checkpoint has set up a dedicated channel for Chinese passport holders.

Travellers who hold an entry permit issued by the Hong Kong authorities or a long-term stay permit for their destination country are exempt from the new requirements.