Some 44,868 Macao vehicles have registered for the northbound travel scheme via Gongbei Customs since the launch of the programme on 1 January 2023, according to an announcement published this morning.
Under the scheme, small motor vehicles with a single Macao registration plate are permitted to drive in Guangdong province.
A Hong Kong version of the initiative was subsequently introduced on 1 July 2023, with Gongbei Customs noting that it has processed 107,387 registrations of single-plate Hong Kong vehicles.
When combined, the number of Macao and Hong Kong vehicles that are eligible for Guangdong travel exceeds 152,000.
In terms of monthly vehicle registrations, the Gongbei authorities mentioned that the figure reached a peak of 3,709 for Macao vehicles and 8,264 for Hong Kong vehicles.
[See more: Macao business leader keen for southbound travel scheme]
To streamline the application process, officials have adopted a so-called “single window system” that allows the various procedures relating to the motorist, vehicle and electronic vehicle licence to be conducted via one online platform.
“The processing time of a single case has increased by 25 percent,” Zhao Shihui, the head of the Gongbei Customs vehicle management division, said in an interview with CCTV.
However, a Macao motorist with the surname Lei told the state media broadcaster that “the custom’s registration efficiency is very high and the process is also very smooth.” He also praised the fact that the entire registration can be done online.
In the three years since the introduction of the northbound travel scheme, the number of Macao vehicles travelling into mainland China has grown substantially. Chinese media reported that some 2.64 million trips in and out of Guangdong were made by Macao vehicles as of 30 December.
The number of crossings by Hong Kong vehicles broke the million mark last July, or one year to the day that the initiative was implemented in the city.
