No more Hong Kong and Macau visa runs?

Latest message from the Commissioner's Office of the Chinese Foreign Ministry in the Hong Kong S.A.R.:

Visa applicants are increasing in a large number and need longer waiting time in the visa office recently. If you don't reside or work in Hong Kong permanently, you are required to apply Chinese visa from the Embassy or Consulate-General of Peoples' Republic of China in your resident country. You are welcome to China for tourism, business, visit of the Olympic Games.

Richard Brubaker of All Roads Lead to China takes that to mean:

If you don’t reside or work in Hong Kong permanently, you are required to apply Chinese visa from the Embassy or Consulate-General of Peoples’ Republic of China in your resident country... i.e. Don’t come to HK looking for a visa to China unless you are a resident of HK

And here's the situation in Macau as told by one of Brubaker's readers:

I was in macau on Monday to get my work visa and there were LOADS of laowais there trying to get visa’s for china… the maximum they were giving were 7 days visas or you would have to go to Chinese embassy in your own country… and they had put up a notice saying that since yesterday , 15th april, even Z visa’s are stopped from macau and HK!!

and …

they rejected a few people even for Z visas right in front of me

No word yet on your regular travel agents in Hong Kong who normally get the processed somewhere in Guangdong. If you have just come back from a Hong Kong / Macau visa run, please get in touch with us at info AT shanghaiist DOT com to share with us your experiences.

Previously on Shanghaiist
Getting your F visa: Even magic won't work now!
The multiple-entry F visa goes on holiday for the Olympics
China tightening F visa applications?

Photo from Heidi D