BEIJING — The State Immigration Administration (SIA) announced several measures on Aug 28 to simplify the process of issuing passports and travel documents to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

From Sept 1, citizens will be able to apply for or renew passports and travel documents to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan anywhere, regardless of where their household registration is, the SIA statement said.

The processing time will be reduced to seven working days, according to the statement.

Tourists traveling to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan in groups can also apply for travel permissions in places other than their household registration locality.

Since its founding in April, the SIA has launched several policies to facilitate cross-border travel, such as shortening the waiting time for citizens to cross the border and offering visa-free access to tourists of 59 countries into Hainan province.