Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge port reports 162.76b yuan in foreign trade in first 5 months

(ECNS) -- The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge port handled 162.76 billion yuan (about $24 billion) in foreign trade during the first five months of 2026, up 41.6% from a year earlier, according to data released Tuesday by Gongbei Customs.

Trade with Hong Kong reached 45.86 billion yuan (about $6.75 billion) during the same period, up 42% year-on-year.

This year marks the third anniversary of the bridge port's role as a key passage for supplying Hong Kong with a full range of fresh food items.

"Fresh food requires extremely high clearance efficiency, as any delay could affect quality," said Wu Jiaxing, head of the monitoring and analysis division at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs.

Wu said customs has introduced an integrated vehicle clearance system and nonintrusive inspection equipment to speed up processing while maintaining safety standards.

In the first five months of this year, agricultural products, including aquatic products, worth over 1.5 billion yuan (about $221 million) were shipped to Hong Kong through the bridge.

Launched in 2025, the "air-road fresh produce express lane" has created a new air-road intermodal channel via the bridge, allowing more fresh products to enter the mainland market through air cargo consolidation, bridge express transport, and distribution in Zhuhai.

Huang Bin, head of the port department at Zhuhai Huichang Transportation Investment Co. Ltd., said fresh goods arriving by air through Hong Kong receive a transit confirmation from Hong Kong Customs, eliminating the need for separate transit certificates while improving customs clearance efficiency.

With customs officers on duty around the clock, imported fresh products such as live shrimp from Southeast Asia and cherries from Chile can clear customs in Zhuhai within an hour of arriving from Hong Kong, Huang said.

Wu said that in the first five months of this year, imports from Hong Kong through the bridge port reached 5.66 billion yuan (about $834 million), up 239.2% year-on-year. Among them, pharmaceutical materials and drugs, cultural products, and high-tech products increased by 225.1%, 749.2%, and 131.6%, respectively, reflecting a more diversified import structure.

The "Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles" policy has also boosted cross-border travel. Since the policy took effect on July 1, 2023, the cumulative number of northbound Hong Kong private vehicles passing through the bridge port has exceeded 5.2 million. In the first six months of this year, customs processed over 1.26 million such vehicles, up more than 20% year-on-year.

(By Tang Yuxian)