The jurisdiction over an area of the Hengqin joint border checkpoint to be used for permanent vehicle inspection channels was transferred yesterday from Guangdong to the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) announced in a statement.
Consequently, Macau’s laws and regulations have been applicable in the area since yesterday.
However, the channels’ operational start is yet to be announced.
The Macau government said early this year that the permanent vehicle inspection channels were slated to come into service later this year.
Since the Macau-mainland joint checkpoint on Zhuhai’s Hengqin Island came into service in August 2020, only temporary vehicle inspection channels have been operating for vehicles crossing the border, because the construction of the permanent channels was still ongoing at that time.
According to yesterday’s GCS statement, a ceremony marking the jurisdiction’s transfer was held at 00:00 a.m. yesterday at Hengqin Port (checkpoint).
Yesterday’s statement noted that before the permanent vehicle inspection channels come into service, vehicles crossing the border still need to use the current temporary vehicle inspection channels.
Due to their limited capacities, the current temporary channels have been affected by traffic congestion during peak hours.
The Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC) in Beijing passed a decision in October 2019 to authorise the MSAR to administer the Macau-side checkpoint zone of the Hengqin joint checkpoint and adjoining areas from the day they come into use in accordance with the MSAR’s laws.
The jurisdiction over the Macau-side checkpoint zone of the Hengqin checkpoint and adjoining areas is scheduled to be transferred to the MSAR in three phases.
Hengqin is connected to Macau, in Cotai, via the Lotus Flower Bridge across a narrow river.
Before the Hengqin joint checkpoint came into service on August 18, 2020, the jurisdiction over the Macau-side checkpoint zone of the Hengqin checkpoint and the Lotus Flower Bridge was transferred to the MSAR on March 18 that year, namely the first phase.
The second phase comprises the permanent inspection channels for vehicles, as well as a link between the University of Macau (UM) campus on Hengqin Island and the Hengqin checkpoint.
As the building of the link between the UM campus and the Hengqin checkpoint is still ongoing, only the jurisdiction over an area used for the permanent vehicle inspection channels was transferred yesterday.
The construction of the link between the UM campus and the Hengqin checkpoint, which got off the ground in December 2021, is scheduled to be completed in July this year. The link will be used for both vehicles and pedestrians.
The third phase refers to an area reserved for the extension of Macau’s Light Rail Transit (LRT) to the Hengqin checkpoint. The ongoing LRT Cotai-Hengqin section project, which got off the ground in March 2021, is now scheduled to be completed in November next year.
A joint Macau-mainland immigration and customs clearance system officially known as “joint inspection and one-time release” is in force at the Hengqin joint checkpoint where travellers are required to pass border controls only once when completing their departure and arrival formalities.
However, the “joint inspection and one-time release” system is currently not adopted at the Hengqin checkpoint’s temporary inspection channels for vehicles, meaning that vehicles crossing the border are still required to pass border controls twice, when travelling from Macau to Hengqin, and vice versa.
According to yesterday’s GCS statement, a “one-time release” clearance system will be adopted at the permanent inspection channels for vehicles, meaning that vehicles will also only be required to pass border controls only once.
Wei Yijun He (front, left), a deputy director of the Hengqin Office of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, hands Macau Customs Service Director-General Vong Man Chong (front, right) a model of the Hengqin checkpoint’s Macau checkpoint zone, during yesterday’s ceremony marking Guangdong’s transfer of its jurisdiction over the checkpoint’s permanent vehicle inspection channels to the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR). – Photos: GCS
Macau Customs Service and Public Security Police (PSP) vehicles enter the area used for permanent vehicle inspection channels in Hengqin checkpoint shortly after 00:00 a.m. yesterday for their respective law enforcement work.
