Revenue from the Lok Ma Chau border shopping centre currently under construction will be used to support charities.
It is set to be completed by late July or early August, one of the project initiators, lawmaker Wong Ting-kwong, has told the Hong Kong Free Press (HKFP).
He says local brands and social enterprises have already signed letters of intent to lease the 208 retail spaces. Contracts have also been signed with tour-bus companies, enabling mainland visitors to come in from Futian, Shenzhen, directly.
The mall was proposed early last year to relieve border towns of the influx of parallel traders, and the mainland government announced a year ago that the multiple-entry permit program for Shenzhen residents would be switched to a one-entry-a-week permit.
Meanwhile, rents for some shops have continued to rise 10 to 20 per cent in Sheung Shui, a parallel trading hotspot, despite a general fall noted in a study by the Rating and Valuation Department. Over the past week, parallel traders in Sheung Shui have been occupying a space outside an MTR exit.