Two-way trade between Macao and Guangdong Province for the first 10 months of 2024 beat last year’s total, coming in at 15.88 billion yuan (US$2.18 billion). Compared with the same period in 2023, this year was up by a significant 25.7 percent, the Global Times reports.
Guangdong Customs’ deputy director, Zhang Ke, said that the growth reflects the two regions’ increasing integration – particularly with regards to the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. The zone was inaugurated in September 2021, to promote Macao’s integration with mainland China and provide additional land and resources for the development of the local economy.
A new two-tier customs arrangement between Macao and Hengqin, implemented in March, has enabled a 32.8-percent increase in commerce between the jurisdictions, said Zhang. The system is largely tax free.
[See more: There are now over 6,500 Macao-funded firms operating in Hengqin]
Goods aren’t the only crossing the border with more frequency. The number of vehicles making the journey is growing continuously, according to Yang Hai, deputy director of Gongbei Customs. A policy allowing Macao-registered vehicles to enter the mainland, implemented at the start of the year, was behind that trend, he noted.
The SAR also hit a new annual record for the number of inbound and outbound trips on 7 December, with the trips exceeding 200 million for the year to date. That’s a 9.4 percent increase for the whole of 2023. The Border Gate with Zhuhai was the busiest crossing, followed by the Qingmao checkpoint, then the Macao checkpoint of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, and then the Hengqin checkpoint.
Earlier this month, the Hengqin Light Rapid Transit (LRT) Line officially opened, aiding movement between Macao and Hengqin, where some 16,000 people from Macao are now living.
