The new Hengqin Port in Zhuhai will open to the public from 3 pm, August 18th,passenger clearance services by previous Hengqin Checkpoint and Macao's Lotus Checkpoint will be relocated to this port at that time, announced by Guangdong and Macao governments on August 11st.

(Photo: Nanfang Plus)

As for freight vehicles originally cleared at the Hengqin Port, they will be temporarily diverted to the checkpoints of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Zhuhai-Macao Cross-border Industrial Zone for customs clearance.

Currently, despite Lotus Checkpoint in Macao being very close to Zhuhai's Hengqin Checkpoint, the separate customs clearance takes around half an hour for two inspections and brings inconvenience. Also, passengers have to take shuttle buses over the Lotus Bridge.

The two ports at Henqin and Lotus Bridge have been the major cross-border passages between Macao and Zhuhai. The relocation of Macao's border checkpoint to the new Hengqin Port will provide more convenient clearance services.

After moving Lotus Checkpoint to the new Hengqin Checkpoint and adopting a "Joint Inspection & One-time Release" customs clearance mode, for local Chinese it will take only a few minutes to cross from Zhuhai to Macao through the E-channels.

After the opening of the new port, it will become Macao's largest land port, with the daily border crossings of passengers and vehicles at Hengqin Port set to increase from about 25,300 to 222,000, and from about 2,700 to 7,259, respectively. The total number of individual annual border crossings is estimated to reach 80 million.

In the future, a passage bridge connecting the Hengqin campus of the University of Macau will be built. After completion, teachers and students of the University of Macau will be able to directly reach Hengqin through the passage.

Author: Will

Editor: Jerry