The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has officially opened . Over the past five years, the bridge has fully leveraged its role as a new engine for economic and trade development among the three regions, a new link for political and cultural exchanges, and a new mode of cross-border travel for residents, contributing to the deep integration and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Since the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the bridge's port has become a popular spot for taking photos due to its high-tech features and stylish appearance. Let's take a closer look at the bridge's port and experience its vibrant energy.

Every morning at 8:00 AM is the busiest time at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge port hall, where tour groups traveling between Zhuhai, Macau, and Hong Kong gather. At 8:00 AM on October 18th, 38 tourists from Wuhan, Hubei Province, took photos at the entrance of the hall marked "Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Zhuhai Port" before crossing the border to begin their 4-day in-depth tour of Hong Kong and Macau.

Pan Yanqian, Vice President of Zhuhai Travel Agency Association: The bridge port has not only boosted tourism to Hong Kong and Macao for mainland residents, but also established good cooperative relationships with travel agencies, associations and enterprises in Hong Kong. More and more Hong Kong residents are taking advantage of weekends and public holidays to travel to western Guangdong via the bridge.

Currently, the bridge port sees an average of 50,000 inbound and outbound passengers per day, making it the preferred port of entry for Hong Kong and Macao tour groups.

To improve customs clearance efficiency, customs and security have innovatively adopted a "one machine, two screens" model at the departure channels of the Zhuhai-Hong Kong passenger inspection and accompanying personnel clearance halls at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge Port. Customs supervision is pre-positioned, requiring passengers' luggage and belongings to be inspected only once. Both parties share the images from the machine, achieving "one-stop inspection" for both customs and port security. This merging of the two checkpoints reduces passenger waiting time for departure inspections by 50%.

"Two vehicles heading north" makes connectivity within the Greater Bay Area more convenient.

Since its opening, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has become an important transportation hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area after five years of development. In particular, since the implementation of the "Macao vehicles going north" and "Hong Kong vehicles going north" policies this year, all vehicles with single license plates going north must pass through the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, further promoting the interconnectivity of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Vehicles registered in Hong Kong or Macau but without a mainland driving permit and license plate are referred to as "Hong Kong/Macau single-plate vehicles". Previously, these vehicles needed to have both Hong Kong/Macau and Guangdong license plates to enter Guangdong. With the implementation of the "Hong Kong vehicles going north" and "Macau vehicles going north" policies, vehicles with Hong Kong or Macau single-plate vehicles can now be driven directly into Guangdong after going through approval and registration procedures.

Nowadays, driving to the mainland for tourism has become a new choice for many Hong Kong and Macao families every weekend and holiday.

Mr. Wang, a Hong Kong resident, needs to travel frequently between Guangdong and Hong Kong because he owns property in mainland China. Therefore, after the "Hong Kong cars going north" policy was implemented, he applied early and was lucky enough to be selected. After being registered and approved by customs and other departments, he was among the first batch to obtain a license plate for a single vehicle going north.

To date, customs has processed over 930,000 vehicles with Hong Kong and Macao license plates. Since September, the port has seen an average of over 10,000 vehicles entering and leaving daily, with the daily throughput exceeding 14,000 for the first time on October 2nd. The daily throughput of vehicles with Hong Kong and Macao license plates traveling north to the mainland has exceeded 5,000, and during peak weekends and holidays, the daily throughput is nearly 7,000, accounting for approximately 60% of passenger vehicles passing through the bridge port.

To ensure smooth customs clearance for Hong Kong and Macao single-license plate vehicles traveling north, customs has continuously strengthened technological support and upgraded and optimized the "one-stop" system. For vehicles without abnormalities and not under surveillance, customs checkpoint clearance time does not exceed 20 seconds. A "customs guarantee waiver" policy is implemented for eligible single-license plate vehicles entering the country, further reducing application costs. Currently, more than 43,000 Hong Kong and Macao single-license plate vehicles have completed customs registration.

Guo Yanhai, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs under Gongbei Customs: The customs will continue to increase the application of intelligent supervision equipment, strengthen supervision, optimize services, enhance linkage with port authorities and Hong Kong and Macao, continuously promote the efficiency and experience of customs clearance for passengers and vehicle owners, and continue to promote the deep integration and convenient exchanges among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

With its transportation advantages becoming increasingly apparent, new trade and economic corridors are emerging.

As the transportation advantages of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge continue to emerge, its network of foreign trade partners is also expanding. According to statistics from Gongbei Customs, over the past five years, the total import and export value through the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge reached 718.75 billion yuan. Currently, the ports of entry and exit for import and export goods cover all 31 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions in mainland China, and the number of countries and regions involved has increased from 105 in 2018 to over 230, further highlighting its radiating and driving effect.

On October 17, a truck with dual Guangdong and Hong Kong license plates carrying 2,000 medical devices, including electronic blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters, and patient monitors, entered the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and left the port in less than 3 minutes. The goods will then be transported to the African market via Hong Kong Airport.

Today, the cargo transport categories at the bridge port are becoming increasingly diverse, including aircraft engines, gold jewelry, integrated circuits, and new energy vehicles. High-value, high-tech, and high-value-added products have become the main import and export commodities at the bridge port, and the number of trucks entering and leaving has steadily increased, reaching 2,000 vehicles per day. Meanwhile, the bridge port's radiating and driving effect on western Guangdong is particularly evident. Enterprises in western Guangdong have imported and exported goods worth 41.26 billion yuan through the bridge port, of which 8.39 billion yuan was imported and exported by enterprises in western Guangdong through the bridge port from January to September this year, showing significant growth.

Guo Yanhai, Deputy Director of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs under the Gongbei Customs: We actively promote customs clearance facilitation reforms, vigorously promote facilitation measures such as "two-step declaration", Guangdong land-based cross-border fast customs clearance model, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao "cross-border one lock" and "green customs lock", and improve and upgrade the "one-stop" vehicle customs clearance and release system to achieve a "double improvement" in customs clearance efficiency and effectiveness.

Over the past five years, driven by a series of favorable policies, the import and export freight business through the bridge port has maintained a rapid growth trend. According to customs statistics, it took two years for the total import and export value of the bridge port to exceed the first 100 billion yuan, seven months to exceed the second 100 billion yuan, and only six months to exceed the seventh 100 billion yuan by the end of September this year, showing a clear accelerating trend.