The operation of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin as an autonomous customs territory will get off the ground on March 1, the Hengqin authorities announced in a statement yesterday.
The measure aims to facilitate the movement of people, goods, capital and information between Macau and Hengqin.
The operational start was jointly announced yesterday by the executive committee of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and the Hengqin Office of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, after the zone’s administrative committee had come up with its decision on the matter.
The Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone’s top decision-making body is its administrative committee, which is jointly headed by Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong and Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng.
The zone’s executive committee, which is run under the administrative committee, is the body tasked with the zone’s daily functioning and execution of tasks. The executive committee is headed by Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong.
The zone was inaugurated in September 2021.
The statement said that the operation of the autonomous customs territory will be a “landmark” measure enabling the zone to achieve its first-phase development goals this year as scheduled, as well as an important step in promoting the integrated development between Macau and Hengqin.
The Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, which was released in September 2021, requires the establishment and operation of the zone as an autonomous customs territory.
The autonomous customs territory will be operated on a two-tier principle, according to which the customs arrangements between Macau and the zone will be operated on the first tier, while the second tier will separate the zone from all the other areas within the customs territory of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) – which is separate from the three other Chinese customs territories, i.e., Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau.
According to the master plan, goods moving between the zone and Macau through the first tier will continue to be subject to registration-based management, but the respective customs declaration procedures will be simplified.
Except for those clearly stipulated by state laws and administrative regulations as goods and articles not exempted from tax, all other goods and articles will be able to enter Hengqin from Macau tax free through the first tier, according to the master plan.
However, all tax-exempted goods moving from the zone to all other mainland areas through the second tier will be required to undergo customs clearance procedures, and will be subject to tariff and import duties, according to the master plan.
For goods produced in the zone that do not contain imported materials or components, or goods containing imported materials or components that are processed in the zone to achieve an added value reaching or exceeding 30 percent of the original value, tax will be exempted for moving into the other mainland areas through the second tier.
Similarly, according to the master plan, goods moving from the other mainland areas into the zone through the second tier will be treated as exports.
According to yesterday’s statement, the second-tier customs procedures between the zone and Zhuhai’s other areas will be operated at six locations in Hengqin from March 1 when the new measure starts.
Based on the two-tier principle, border controls for the movement of people will remain in force between Macau and the zone, while there will continue to be no restrictions on the movement of people in the second tier.
According to a follow-up statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) yesterday, Ho expressed his sincere gratitude to the central government for its strong support to the development of Macau and the zone.
The statement pledged that the Macau government will work closely with the zone to ensure the smooth implementation of the autonomous customs arrangement.
According to Article 112 of the Macau Basic Law, the Macau Special Administrative Region is a separate customs territory, using the name “Macao, China” when participating in international organisations and international trade agreements.
