One-stop clearance for Macau-Hengqin car transit

The director-general of the Hengqin New Area Administrative Committee, Niu Jing, has confirmed that cars from Macau could soon access the island, as Hengqin prepares to trial a one- stop customs clearance policy.
“We hope to announce as early as possible the measures for vehicles with a single license permit to enter and exit Hengqin and the date for the implementation of these measures” said the director-general.
The announcement comes soon after the introduction of ten new measures to stimulate economic cooperation between Hengqin and the SAR. While one measure seeks to stimulate cooperation through permitting car transit to and on the island, another one will help promote investment through Macau and Hong Kong-
based companies.
According to Niu, the successful implementation of the measure will mean that Hengqin Island will be able to cooperate with Macau Customs, holding only one inspection before transit clearance.
Reducing border checks to a single inspection could help to avoid ‘bottlenecks’ at the crossing, Niu said earlier this year when investigating a clearance arrangement for transit between Macau and Hengqin.
“If the cars will just jam up at the border port, what’s the point of offering them entry?” he asked on the sidelines of a policy-briefing seminar in May.
Meanwhile, authorities from Zhuhai stressed the need for special measures to connect the city to Hong Kong and Macau.
“It highlights the intensive economic cooperation with Hong Kong and Macau. In comparison with the Shanghai special zone, as well as the free trade zones of Fujian and Guangdong, we structurally set the measures, particularly for connecting with Hong Kong and Macau. This is a unique feature of the existing free trade zone measures,” said Wang Zhibin, director of Zhuhai’s Legislative Affairs Bureau, cited by TDM.
In December 2014, a 24-hour customs service was implemented at the Lotus Bridge, connecting Macau with Hengqin. The crossing had previously only been open between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.