Qingming influx traffic to Zhuhai port of HZM Bridge surging

The Zhuhai land port of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) in south China has experienced a surging inbound passenger and vehicle traffic during the Qingming Festival holiday, as many Hong Kong and Macao residents travel northward to visit relatives, pay respects to ancestors, and take spring outings.

According to the HZMB border inspection station, from Friday, the day before the three-day Qingming Festival holiday started, to 21:00 on Saturday, over 229,000 passenger trips and more than 38,000 vehicle crossings were recorded at the Zhuhai land port. Notably, inbound traffic alone amounted to 160,000 passenger trips and approximately 26,000 vehicle crossings.

"In addition to family travelers, there are also apparently more group tours from Hong Kong and Macao, up about 20 percent from previous years," said Xiong Lei, an officer with the HZMB's Zhuhai border inspection station.

The increase in traffic is primarily driven by a combination of family visits, ancestor worship, and sightseeing demand. Self-driving tours to the mainland have emerged as a popular new choice for Hong Kong and Macao residents. The convenience of cross-border driving, coupled with the policy of exempting small passenger vehicles from tolls during the Qingming Festival holiday, has further boosted the desire to travel across the border.

"We are going to Dongguan for family visits, and we'll return to Hong Kong after about three days of fun," said Feng, a self-driving traveler.

"We are from Hong Kong and plan to go to Zhongshan for sightseeing and having some fun," said Zhang, a traveler from Hong Kong.

To manage the peak flow of passengers and vehicles, the HZMB border inspection station has deployed additional police forces and opened more inspection channels in advance. Border control authorities anticipate that outbound passenger and vehicle traffic will peak on Monday and Tuesday.

Qingming influx traffic to Zhuhai port of HZM Bridge surging

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.

The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.

Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.

A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting