Smart port drives regional trade growth

In October, a cargo truck loaded with 2,000 medical devices made by the company, including electronic blood pressure monitors, pulse oximeters and patient monitors, completed export procedures in under three minutes.

The shipment will be transported to the African market through the Hong Kong airport, according to Zhou Guojun, general manager of the company. The Zhuhai-based company exports its medical devices to more than 150 countries and regions.

Due to flight schedules and other factors, the company often chooses to clear customs in the early morning and transport the goods via the bridge port to the Hong Kong airport for international flights.

"The opening of the bridge has made it more convenient for us to ship our products to the overseas market," said Zhou, adding it takes only two hours from warehouse loading to customs clearance at the port.

Convenient measures such as "pre-declaration" by the bridge customs and the advantage of 24-hour customs clearance have led the company to prioritize exporting goods through the bridge port.

Since the beginning of 2023, the company has exported medical equipment products with a total value exceeding $20 million, according to Zhou.

The variety of cargo transported through the bridge port has become increasingly diverse, including aircraft engines, gold jewelry, integrated circuits and new energy vehicles, according to Ye Yingqiong, head of the fourth supervision section of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs.

"High-tech and high-value-added products have become the main imports and exports through the bridge port," said Ye, adding that the volume of incoming and outgoing trucks has steadily increased to the recent daily number of 2,000 trips.

The bridge's opening has had a particularly noticeable impact on the western region of Guangdong, according to Ye.

In the first nine months of this year, the import and export value of companies from western Guangdong through the bridge port reached 8.39 billion yuan, an increase of approximately 28 percent compared to the same period last year.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn