Authorities released the master plan for building the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin on September 5, 2021. Five years on, Hengqin has emerged as a key testing ground for deeper integration with Macao.
Over the past five years, the Cooperation Zone recorded a combined import and export value of 190 billion yuan, up more than 20 percent. More than 100 million passenger trips were recorded through Hengqin Port.
Customs authorities have also cleared more than 12.5 million vehicle crossings, with an average annual growth rate exceeding 33 percent. Passenger and vehicle flows through Hengqin Port reached 105 million and 12.45 million trips, respectively.
The port's single-day record stands at 148,000 passenger crossings and 14,000 vehicle crossings. Average daily vehicle traffic has risen more than fourfold, from nearly 3,000 crossings five years ago to over 12,000 today.
Passenger flows have surged from 7.36 million five years ago to 35.5 million over the past year, while vehicle crossings rose from 1.03 million to 4.32 million. The two categories recorded average annual growth rates of 36.9 percent and 33.2 percent, respectively.
The introduction of Hengqin's "first-line and second-line" management measures on March 1, 2024 brought a series of new cross-boundary facilitation policies. It marked the administrative and customs boundary separating the Cooperation Zone from the rest of China's customs territory.
These include allowing eligible Macao residents to bring certain animal and plant products into Hengqin, stay-on-board customs clearance for cross-boundary student buses, point-to-point medical transfers between Hengqin and Macao hospitals, and a departure tax refund service point at Hengqin Port.
A group-tour policy was introduced in May 2024, allowing mainland visitors to travel repeatedly between Hengqin and Macao as part of organised tours. A new policy followed in January 2025, allowing eligible Hengqin residents and residence permit holders to make unlimited trips to Macao within one year.
By July this year, more than 43,000 tour groups had travelled under the group-tour scheme. Meanwhile, 358,000 travellers passed through the port using Hengqin-Macao tourism permits, while another 936,000 used the multiple-entry permit.
Integration is also extending beyond people to the movement of goods. A new air cargo clearance service began operating at the Hengqin pre-cargo terminal of Macao International Airport on August 26.
Cross-boundary e-commerce goods can now complete customs procedures and palletisation in Hengqin's Logistics Centre before passing through Hengqin Port and heading directly to Macao International Airport.
As China's first cross-boundary road-air logistics project, the initiative effectively extends Macao airport's cargo services into the mainland. Since its launch, customs authorities have cleared more than 55 truckloads of small-value and high-frequency cross-boundary e-commerce export goods.
In the first seven months of 2026, trade in the Cooperation Zone reached 43.46 billion yuan, up 64 percent year on year and a record high for the period.
Reporter | Dai Bosi
Photo | Hengqin Online
