China’s busiest sea-bridge border crossing entered National Day week with two major upgrades aimed at both people and perishables. From 00:00 on 1 October, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Zhuhai Port began round-the-clock customs clearance for designated fresh food heading to Hong Kong, extending the previous 16-hour window. Simultaneously, the port switched on an enhanced ‘co-operative inspection, one-time release’ system: Hong Kong and Macau residents can now swipe their Home-Return Permits in either direction at the same self-service channel, eliminating confusion over which document to present. Border officials estimate passenger throughput will top 100,000 per day, while vehicular traffic—boosted by the recent expansion of the “Guangdong cars southbound” quota—could exceed 20,000 vehicles daily. Six additional facial-recognition e-gates and two bus passenger scanners have been installed to cut average processing time to under 20 seconds. The 24-hour cargo window is a significant win for Hong Kong’s food-security supply chain. Importers of chilled poultry, seafood and vegetables predict logistics costs will fall 5-8 percent thanks to higher truck utilisation and lower spoilage risk. For global retailers, the smoother flow may allow tighter inventory cycles in the Greater Bay Area. Travellers, meanwhile, gain flexibility: private cars and cross-boundary coaches can depart outside previous curfew hours, spreading demand more evenly. Mobility teams should still remind drivers that toll exemptions for vehicles under seven seats apply during the holiday but that cross-border quota approvals and insurance remain mandatory.
Source: Sina Finance
