Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, October 13th. Title: "Acceleration" of ports and "connection of hearts" in the Bay Area
Xinhua News Agency reporters He Xiaotong and Song Chen
The rebuilt Huanggang Port was officially opened on the 12th. This "super port" has a total construction area of 689,700 square meters and is planned to have five rail lines intersecting. The overall customs clearance time has been significantly shortened from about 30 minutes to about 5 minutes, and the vehicle customs clearance time has been shortened to about 2 minutes. The day before, the number of entry-exit passengers at Gongbei-Guanzha Port exceeded 100 million in 2026, 14 days ahead of last year. The customs clearance capabilities and customs clearance facilitation levels of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao ports continue to improve. The constant flow of passengers and vehicles shows the vitality of the integrated development of the Greater Bay Area, and has also become a vivid portrayal of Hong Kong and Macao better integrating into and serving the overall development of the country.
The "hard connection" of transportation facilities allows the port to "accelerate" customs clearance. The Huanggang Port started reconstruction in 2019 and is positioned as the most important 24-hour passenger land port between Shenzhen and Hong Kong. After reopening, it will be equipped with 134 self-service lanes, 68 manual counters and 28 "five-in-one" vehicle cooperative inspection lanes, with a designed daily customs clearance flow of 200,000 passengers. The upgrade of customs clearance capabilities embodies the wisdom of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen cooperative design team: the joint inspection building adopts a vertical stacking and Shenzhen-Hong Kong elevated interconnection design to "integrate" the huge passenger and vehicle flow into a limited space.
On the other side, the Gongbei-Guanzha Port is an important channel connecting Zhuhai and Macau. It is China's first land port with an annual passenger flow exceeding 100 million. 100 million people passed through the port in 284 days. Behind the continuous iteration of technological empowerment, the per capita customs clearance time at the port has been reduced to about 12 seconds. The self-service channels have been continuously expanded and upgraded, and the proportion of self-service customs clearance at the gate has reached nearly 85%.
The "soft connectivity" of rules and mechanisms makes exchanges more convenient and efficient, and is a concrete embodiment of the innovative practice of "one country, two systems". Huanggang Port superimposes "cooperative inspection and one release" on the basis of "one place, two inspections". Hong Kong and Shenzhen inspection personnel work side by side in the same joint inspection space, and passengers can complete inspections in both places simultaneously in one queue. The implementation of this model is a practical manifestation of the deep coordination of the legal systems, customs clearance mechanisms, and personnel guarantees of the two places. The smooth operation of the Gongbei-Guanzhao Port is also inseparable from the regular liaison and cooperation mechanism for Zhuhai and Macao border inspections. The two places report passenger flows to each other and jointly deploy channels. In the face of emergencies, the "life channel" can be quickly opened. The "emergency return procedures" have assisted more than 43,000 mainland residents in Macao who have lost their travel passes to Hong Kong and Macao to return smoothly.
The roads are connected and the hearts are close. The "heart-to-heart connection" of residents in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao echoes at various ports crowded with people. After the scientific researchers of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone in the Loop have completed their experiments, they can go to the Hong Kong market to eat a bowl of noodles. Mainland tourists can return to Shenzhen at any time to enjoy delicious food and meet relatives and friends after watching a performance in Hong Kong. At the Gongbei-Guanzha Port, more than 70% are "frequent travelers" from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Cross-border school children, Macao residents traveling north for consumption, and mainland youth traveling south for work shuttle back and forth. Specially designed passages for school children and green passages guard the daily fireworks in the twin cities. Speedy customs clearance changes not only time, but also the living radius of residents in the Greater Bay Area.
Not long ago, Hong Kong launched its first five-year plan, and Macao launched its "Third Five-Year Plan" to proactively align with the country's "15th Five-Year Plan". The expansion and efficiency improvement of the Huanggang Port is an important measure to promote the construction of the "one-hour living circle" and the "half-hour living circle between Shenzhen and Hong Kong" in the Greater Bay Area. It will inject new momentum into Hong Kong's construction of an international innovation and technology center and accelerate the construction of the northern metropolitan area. The Gongbei-Guanzha Port continues to promote the construction of smart ports, continue to serve the people's livelihood and economic and trade exchanges between Zhuhai and Macao, and effectively empower Guangdong and Macao cooperation.
The customs clearance time has been significantly reduced, the flow of people coming and going continues to increase, and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is full of vitality. From Huanggang Port to Gongbei-Guanzha Port, behind the bustling scene of people is Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao's innovative practice of promoting "hard connectivity" of infrastructure, "soft connectivity" of rules and mechanisms, and "heart-to-heart connectivity" of Bay Area residents, witnessing the solid steps of Hong Kong and Macao to integrate into and serve the overall development of the country.
