Hong Kong’s Immigration Department has urged residents and cross-border drivers to complete early enrolment for the rebuilt Huanggang Port, scheduled to open at 6 a.m. on Monday 12 October. The port will debut a “co-operative inspection, one-time release” model in which travellers clear both Hong Kong and mainland formalities at a single automated gate. According to Assistant Director (Control) Wong Kai, more than 160 000 Hongkongers signed up via the ‘Hong Kong e-Channel’ mobile app between 6 and 9 October. The rebuilt facility offers 134 self-service kiosks and 68 manual counters; qualified users need only queue once and present a travel document once, cutting total processing time from roughly 30 minutes to five. Infrastructure on the Hong Kong side now sits inside the new joint building, linked directly to Shenzhen’s counterpart. A joint command centre staffed by immigration, customs, police and transport officers from both jurisdictions will monitor passenger and vehicle flows in real time. Vehicle lanes feature a three-gate design and multifunction data-capture posts that collect temperature, document, facial and fingerprint information in one stop. Huanggang is the second-busiest land port between the two cities, historically handling over 100 000 passengers daily. Its reopening is expected to relieve pressure on Lok Ma Chau Spur Line and Shenzhen Bay controls, and to support a projected 10 percent rise in cross-border commuting when the Greater Bay Area resumes regular mega-event schedules later this year. Businesses with production sites in Dongguan or R&D hubs in Nanshan are advised to brief shuttle-bus contractors on the new routing and to remind staff to download the e-Channel app in advance. Travellers must still carry passports or mainland travel permits that meet both jurisdictions’ validity rules; incomplete documentation will divert users to manual counters, negating time savings.
Source: Hong Kong Government News
