A mega-sized sea crossing linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao in China on Monday welcomed the first batch of fresh seafood such as bluefin tuna and lobsters from Australia and New Zealand.
These goods carried by six specialized transport vehicles were transited through the international airports of Hong Kong and Macao before reaching the newly-opened authority-designated supervision area at the Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
The supervision zone was opened Monday and will attract more fresh seafood, seasonal fruits and other fresh products from overseas to enter the Chinese mainland via the bridge's Zhuhai end, which will help diversify the port's import structure.
"In the past, there was no designated port for importing fresh food on the west bank of the Pearl River. The logistics cost of importing fresh food from other ports was high, and the long distance would also affect the product quality. After the authority-designated supervision area at Zhuhai Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge was put into operation, the logistics costs of enterprises will be greatly reduced," said Zhong Wenyang, a staffer with Zhuhai Huichang Transportation Investment Co., Ltd., which invested, built and now operates the supervision zone.
Since the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge was opened to traffic in 2018, the total value of imports and exports via the world's longest sea crossing had exceeded 1 trillion yuan (136 billion U.S. dollars) by the end of last year.
"The smooth customs clearance of the first batch of fresh aquatic products through the bridge's Zhuhai Port marks the implementation of an air-land exclusive express line for fresh food. The 'airport plus bridge' model will empower the construction of the Greater Bay Area as an international logistics hub and provide a strategic fulcrum for improving the quality and efficiency of the cross-border fresh food supply chain," said Liu Shu, deputy commissioner of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs.
The supervision site, covering 3,500 square meters, has been officially listed by the General Administration of Customs, allowing for direct imports and leveraging the so-called "one-hour logistics circle" to cover the market of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
The Greater Bay Area consists of Hong Kong, Macao, as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.
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