The Macau government announced yesterday that the last 15 of the Hengqin joint border checkpoint’s 30 permanent vehicle inspection channels will come into service on Monday next week.
The first 15 of the 30 channels came into service on September 26 last year on a trial-operation basis. Since then, vehicles are required to pass border controls only once when completing their departure and arrival formalities.
Before September 26 last year, only temporary vehicle inspection channels had been operating since the Macau-mainland joint checkpoint on Zhuhai’s Hengqin island opened in August 2020, meaning that vehicles crossing the border were required to pass border controls twice every time when travelling from Macau to Hengqin, and vice versa, at that time.
A joint Macau-mainland immigration clearance system officially known as “joint inspection and one-time release” has since its start been implemented at the Hengqin joint checkpoint’s pedestrian inspection channels where travellers are required to pass border controls only once when completing their departure and arrival formalities, since their opening in August 2020.
However, the “joint inspection and one-time release” system only started for vehicles crossing the border on September 26, 2023 when temporary vehicle inspection channels were replaced by permanent ones.
A statement by the Secretariat for Security (GSS) noted yesterday that the new “joint inspection and one-time release” system for vehicles crossing the Macau-Hengqin border has a total of 30 inspection channels, 15 of which started their trial operation on September 26, 2023.
The statement said that construction and operational tests of the remaining 15 channels have now been completed. As jointly agreed by the Macau and Hengqin authorities, the statement said, all 30 channels will officially start their operation at 3 p.m. on Monday.
The 30 permanent vehicle inspection channels will comprise 15 departure channels (from Macau to Hengqin) and 15 arrival channels (from Hengqin to Macau).
The 15 channels on each side will comprise nine for passenger vehicles and six for goods vehicles.
Only four special groups of vehicle passengers are allowed to pass border controls via the Hengqin checkpoint’s permanent vehicle inspection channels with the drivers, namely those aged 70 or over, those aged 10 or below, pregnant women, and those with disabilities.
The Macau government has said that in the near future, there will be an immigration hall just next to the permanent vehicle inspection channels for other vehicle passengers to pass border controls.
However, the ongoing construction of the immigration hall has still not been completed, because of which for the time being vehicle passengers not in the four special groups are still required to pass border controls via the Hengqin checkpoint’s pedestrian checkpoint building.
This photo released by the executive committee of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin on September 26 last year shows a Macau car passing an e-channel at the Hengqin checkpoint’s vehicle inspection zone on the day that the first 15 of its 30 permanent vehicle inspection channels started their trial operation.
