The Huanggang Port in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen officially ceased its cross-border cargo transportation on Sunday after nearly 36 years of service.
The closure took effect at 0:00 on Sunday, marking the end of its role as a major gateway between the mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
In the first 11 months this year, more than 2 trillion yuan of cargo (about 284 billion U.S. dollars) and over 1 million trucks passed through the port, China's first 24-hour road cargo checkpoint, according to the Huanggang Customs.
"Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland in 1997, the Huanggang Port had served as a major channel for cargo trade with Hong Kong. The volume of cargo passing through the Huanggang Port had kept surging. By 2004, more than 10 million inbound and outbound vehicles had passed through the port. For many years, its cargo throughput ranked first among all land ports in the country," said Yi Chao, deputy section chief of cargo inspection at the Huanggang Customs.
With the Huanggang Port ending its cargo operations, Shenzhen Bay, Liantang and Wenjindu ports will assume its role, establishing a new cross-border logistics pattern between the mainland and the HKSAR.
"To ensure the smooth redistribution of freight operations from the Huanggang Port, we've added manpower and facilities and optimized traffic lanes at Shenzhen Bay and Liantang ports to increase custom clearance capacity. Meanwhile, we have released clearance guides and route instruction videos to transport companies in advance, familiarizing drivers with the routes to the receiving ports to ensure an orderly and stable freight business transition from the Huanggang Port," said Zhang Songfeng, deputy section chief of port supervision at the Shenzhen Customs.
Shenzhen's Huanggang Port ceases cargo transportation after 36 years of service
