Checkpointtosuspendstartof24hourservice

From: Shenzhen Daily

Updated: 2020-11-27 09:11

The schedule for Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint to implement 24-hour border crossing service before the end of the year has been suspended due to COVID-19, the Shenzhen Municipal office of Port of Entry and Exit announced on its official website Wednesday.

Due to the risks of COVID-19, the border crossing time has been adjusted to 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. from the original 6:30 a.m. to midnight.

Hong Kong and Shenzhen will develop and assess the 24-hour service appropriately under the overall situation of COVID-19 prevention and control, according to the website.

For the facilitation among cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen and Hong Kong had agreed in August to implement the 24-hour service at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint. It was also mentioned in the 2020 key work of Guangdong-Hong Kong Cooperation Framework jointly released by Guangdong and Hong Kong governments recently.

Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint will be one of the three checkpoints between Shenzhen and Hong Kong that offer the service if the arrangement goes through. The other two checkpoints are Liantang Checkpoint in Luohu District and Huanggang Checkpoint in Futian District.

Before the opening of Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint on July 1, 2007, the State Council had approved the implementation of the 24-hour service. It was not carried out because of the low passenger flows and underdeveloped transportation service.

Statistics released at the end of 2019 showed passengers from Guangzhou and Dongguan make up 21 percent of the mainland travelers who use Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint to Hong Kong.

The city is considering an extension of the intercity rail to the checkpoint, which is strategically important for the regional development of the western part of Shenzhen and Hong Kong. The city’s rail construction office is working on the feasibility of linking the Shenzhen-Dongguan-Guangzhou Intercity Railway with Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint, where Metro Line 13, which runs between Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint and Guangming District, is currently under construction. Line 13 will be connected with Dongguan Metro in the future and bring more passengers to the checkpoint.