HK, Mainland Start 24-hour Passenger Clearance

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 27, 2003

HK, Mainland Start 24-hour Passenger Clearance

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The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government and Guangdong provincial government started 24-hour passenger clearance service at the Lok Ma Chau/Huanggang checkpoint right after midnight Sunday.

It is the first time that the round-the-clock passenger clearance service is provided at one of the four land checkpoints between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, a historic step toward the further integration of Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta (PRD).

After inspecting the operation of the new service Sunday night,Secretary for Security Regina Yip told media she was satisfied with the arrangements and believed it will have positive influence upon HK and mainland's economy.

Businessmen, especially property developers on both sides of the checkpoint, also take the new service as a positive stimulator to their enterprises.

Lok Ma Chau checkpoint is in Hong Kong's New Territories with a daily passenger flow of about 40,000 and Huanggang checkpoint is located at the southern part of China's Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Guangdong Province.

The Immigration Department of the HKSAR government opened 10 counters for passenger clearance and two lanes for private cars at the Lok Ma Chau checkpoint.

The daily passenger clearance time will be 6.5 hours longer staring from Monday.

About 1,000 are estimated to cross the checkpoint every hour during the overnight period and the average waiting time will be about 5 to 15 minutes, said the department.

The Immigration Department, along with the Customs and Excise Department and the Hong Kong Police, have deployed sufficient manpower to cope with the passenger and vehicular traffic during the overnight period.

Related arrangements have also been made on the Huanggang side by the Guangdong provincial government to ensure the smooth flow and security of passengers.

Key public transport services, including cross boundary shuttlebuses and minibuses, commenced 24-hour services concurrently.

Some nearby restaurants, retail stores and entertainment businesses have also extended business to 24 hours. An owner of a restaurant west of the Huanggang side said he expected to benefit from the operation of the 24-hour passenger clearance.

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