GUANGZHOU – The island of Hengqin in Guangdong province yesterday started to allow most goods to be moved there tax-free from the neighboring Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
The new customs operation became effective at 12 a.m. yesterday in the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, in the city of Zhuhai.
The zone covers the 106-square-km island of Hengqin close to Macau.
Under the new mechanism, tariffs will be generally lifted for goods entering Hengqin from Macau, while goods moving from Hengqin to elsewhere in the Chinese mainland will now be subject to import duties, if they are not eligible for value added tax exemption.
Similar tax exemptions also apply to luggage and parcels entering Hengqin from Macau.
The new policy is seen as a major arrangement to enrich the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" in Macau and boost the appropriate economic diversification of the MSAR, which has a land area of only 33.3 square kilometers.
Lei Wai Nong, director of the zone's executive committee, said at a ceremony in Hengqin yesterday that the customs rearrangement also aims to make it easier for Macau residents to live and work in the zone. Lei is the MSAR government's secretary for economy and finance.
Macau residents are now allowed to bring a reasonable amount of cooked meat, fresh vegetables and fruits into Hengqin, which is a pioneering reform in China, according to Lei.
"The new policy will effectively facilitate the flow of goods, personnel, capital and information between Hengqin and Macau, and create valuable new space for Macau's new industries and business forms," he said.
In 2021, the central authorities decided to set up the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and turn the island into an important new growth point for Macau's economy.
By the end of 2023, a total of 11,500 Macau residents were working or living in Hengqin, an annual increase of over 70 percent, according to the zone's statistics bureau.
Xuan Jianguo, secretary-general of the Hengqin Institute of Innovation and Development, said the customs reform will greatly boost the integration of Hengqin and Macau.
"Hengqin has completed a key step toward fulfilling its two main goals, which are promoting the diversification of Macau's economy and creating a new home for Macao residents to live and work," Xuan said.
– Xinhua, MPD
Caption: A customs officer checks the luggage of a Macau resident, who was the first passenger to complete customs clearance after a new customs operation became effective in the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone at Hengqin port (checkpoint) yesterday. – Xinhua
