The main hall at Gongbei Port officially reopened for use last Friday after undergoing almost 24 months of renovation, local news outlets report.
The 235.81 million yuan refurbishment project includes upgrades to the hall’s drainage, electricity and air conditioning systems. The floor area devoted to border crossing has been increased by 50 percent, while the hall’s outer walls, floor, signs, computer systems and machinery have been updated.
Work on upgrading the hall began in July 2022 due to safety and fire hazard concerns over the building. Local media reports that there were already plans by the Zhuhai authorities to refurbish the building as early as 2018 since the various systems in the port, which was built in 1999, were ageing poorly.
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According to the deputy director of the Gongbei Frontier Inspection Station, Yi Min, who spoke with TDM, the updated main hall now has a total of 90 e-Channels and 32 manual channels for immigration clearance.
Yi noted that the hall could now handle as many as 350,000 travellers during the busiest days.
Residents interviewed by TDM spoke positively about the renovation work, praising the hall for its cleanliness and size. One interviewee noted that the hall was “well-lit, and felt more spacious, allowing passengers to cross the border quickly,” while another spoke of the newly renovated venue’s cleanliness and “very good equipment.”
