A top lawyer based in Hengqin has said “through buses” may soon be running between the island and Macao thanks to more relaxed border checkpoint procedures.
Chen Yi, director, lawyer and partner of ZLF Law Office, said she was looking forward to a “more open” customs and immigration clearance policy between Macao and the zone in the not-too-distant future.
“From a legal perspective, allowing Macao residents, including non-Chinese citizens, to take a bus [directly from the MSAR] to Hengqin is a general trend that can be expected,” she said.
Commentators have described the possibility of relaxed cross-border transport between Macao and Hengqin as a “through bus” arrangement.
Chen added that the general trend of the authorities is to introduce more of Macao’s civil and commercial laws to the zone. Moreover, thanks to progressive inclusiveness, Chen said she believed that it will gradually become easier for people from both sides to travel between the MSAR and Hengqin.
Chen was speaking during a visit by a 25-strong media delegation organised by the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in conjunction with the Office of the Commissioner of the Foreign Ministry in Macao.
The two-day fact-finding trip included a visit to ZLF Law Office, the nation’s first mainland-Hong Kong-Macao law firm.
Chen told the delegation that the firm mainly provides services for mainland clients concerning legal matters in Portuguese-speaking countries such as Brazil and Portugal. It also provides research and consultancy services for government entities in the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.
According to Chen, ZLF handles more than 20 major cases per year, including asset disputes between Macao-based banks and customers in the mainland.
Chen said she believed that the in-depth cooperation zone will increasingly absorb aspects of Macao’s civil and commercial codes, such as marriage, inheritance, company establishment and trade-related legal matters.
The delegation also visited the Chimelong theme park, the exhibition hall of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Hengqin Macao Youth Entrepreneurship Valley, Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institute, Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park and the Macao-invested Authenmole Biotech plant, The Macau Post Daily reported.
