Starting Wednesday, foreign residents living in Hong Kong and Macao can apply for multiple-entry visas to the Chinese mainland with a validity period of up to five years by following a simplified procedure, according to the central government.

The Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region announced on Wednesday that non-Chinese Hong Kong permanent residents and non-Chinese Hong Kong residents who are traveling to the mainland for tourism, business, family visits or cultural and academic exchanges can apply for a visa valid for up to five years, which will allow them to stay on the mainland for up to 180 days.

Under the new arrangement, applicants are not required to provide proof of round-trip tickets or hotel reservations when applying for visas, the office said.

Those who successfully applied for visas from overseas Chinese visa-issuing authorities and had their fingerprints collected during the process will be exempted from fingerprint collection when applying from Hong Kong, the office added.

The office stressed that the validity of the visa and duration of stay will be decided case by case, and applicants may also be asked to submit additional documents or attend interviews.

The visa policy does not apply to foreign domestic helpers, the office noted.

Also on Wednesday, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao SAR announced a similar optimization for permanent and temporary foreign residents of the city.

People who apply from Macao for short-term activities such as tourism, trade and family visits can get visas with a validity period of five years and a stay for no more than 180 days, the office said, adding that proof of outbound transportation and hotel bookings are no longer required under the new arrangement.

Starting July 10, non-Chinese permanent residents of both Hong Kong and Macao can apply for a new mainland travel permit, which allows multiple entries into the mainland within a five-year validity period, with each stay capped at 90 days.