About 400,000 mainlanders were expected to visit Hong Kong from Sept. 28 to Oct. 7, up 16 percent from the same period last year, said Selina Chow, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Chow was speaking Wednesday at a ceremony where the Hong Kong Tourism Board and China UnionPay signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on further cooperation.

To encourage the use of UnionPay cards in Hong Kong, China UnionPay will stage a promotion offering more than 6,000 prizes during October.

From Oct. 1 to Oct. 7, the company will present a prize of one digital video camera worth HK$8,000 (US$1,025) each day.

(Xinhua News Agency September 17, 2004)