Chinese shares close lower Friday

Chinese stocks closed lower on Friday, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index down 1.00 percent to 3,880.10 points.

The Shenzhen Component Index closed 0.99 percent lower at 13,352.90 points.

The combined turnover of these two indices totaled 1.66 trillion yuan (about 240.83 billion U.S. dollars), down from 1.84 trillion yuan on the previous trading day.

Shares related to lithography led gains, while grain-related shares, the ecological agriculture sector, and the medical waste treatment sector declined.

The ChiNext Index, tracking China's Nasdaq-style board of growth enterprises, lost 0.73 percent to close at 3,149.60 points.

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 0.02 percent higher at 1,631.67 points.

Passenger trips and vehicle traffic at Hengqin Port in south China's Guangdong Province continued to climb in the first quarter of 2026, with both breaking historical records for the same period.

According to the Hengqin immigration inspection station in Zhuhai, a city that neighbors the Macao Special Administrative Region, over 9.2 million cross-border trips were made through the port during the first quarter of this year, up 31.7 percent year on year, and more than 1.08 million vehicles crossed the border via the port, marking an year-on-year increase of 46.5 percent.

China's expanding visa-free travel policies, along with measures such as a Hengqin-Macao tour group program and multiple-entry permits, have significantly facilitated cross-border travel. The demand for cross-border commuting, tourism, and study tours has been unleashed. During the New Year's Day holiday, in particular, the port's daily passenger flow exceeded 147,000, hitting a record high.

Facing surge in cross-border flow, Hengqin Port has optimized its customs clearance services. Relying on the innovative inspection model of "Cooperative Inspection and One-off Release", the clearance time for passenger vehicles has been reduced from about 8 minutes to 50 seconds, greatly improving clearance efficiency.