Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge celebrates 6th anniversary with record crossing

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) celebrates its sixth anniversary of opening to traffic on Thursday, with a record number of passengers and vehicles crossing, according to data.

According to statistics from the HZMB border inspection station, 62.3 million passengers had crossed the Zhuhai Port by October 22, with more than 12.76 million vehicles clearing customs.

The HZMB, a 55-kilometer transportation system, links Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), Macao SAR and the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. It is the world's longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing.

Since its inauguration, the bridge has become one of the most popular and convenient channels for residents of the three areas to travel around thanks to its regional linkage and the 24-hour customs clearance at the port.

Data from the HZMB border inspection station shows that the total passenger flow through the bridge's ports this year had reached 21.5 million person-times by October 22, a year-on-year increase of 84.8 percent and 1.96 times that of the same period in 2019.

"Over the six years since its opening, the total number of Hong Kong and Macao residents entering and exiting the mainland through the bridge has exceeded 35.6 million person-times, accounting for more than 57 percent (of the total). In 2024 alone, the number of Hong Kong and Macao residents entering and exiting the mainland through the bridge exceeded 12.9 million person-times, up 82.8 percent year on year, setting a new record," said Chen Faqiu, head of the HZMB border inspection station.

Meanwhile, driving has become one of the most popular cross-border transportation methods for Hong Kong and Macao residents entering and exiting the mainland. By September this year, the Gongbei customs at the bridge port had inspected a total of 3.6251 million vehicles with Hong Kong and Macao license plates thanks to the "Macao vehicles northward" and "Hong Kong vehicles northward" policies introduced in 2023.

The HZMB also serves as a popular channel for travelers either going abroad or coming to China. So far, the border inspection department has inspected 6,052 domestic tour groups with 234,800 tourists. It has also inspected more than 330,000 foreign passengers, a significant 169 percent year-on-year increase. To date, 37,000 passengers have successfully cleared customs under the "via Zhuhai to Hong Kong flight" model.

Cargo volume transported across the bridge has also soared. Between 2018 and September this year, the total value of goods imported and exported through the bridge port reached 942.7 billion yuan ($132.48 billion), of which 164.97 billion yuan in the first nine months of this year, a year-on-year increase of 10.4 percent.