Services optimized to improve efficiency, guarantee smooth passenger flow

Tsang flew from San Francisco to Hong Kong and returned to Zhuhai to visit his family on Dec 13.

According to Hao Yingfa, another deputy chief customs officer of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Customs, customs authorities have set up four dedicated passenger channels at the Zhuhai port of the bridge to ensure smooth customs clearance.

"The implementation of the joint customs and security inspection mode at the land port helps enable a touchless clearance experience for inbound and outbound travelers through smart customs systems," said Hao, adding that the efficiency of customs clearance for outbound passengers can be improved by 50 percent.

The Zhuhai port of the bridge has introduced a "one-stop" intelligent checkpoint system through which drivers can streamline the customs process independently. This port is the only entry channel for vehicles that only have plates issued by Hong Kong or Macao to head north into the Chinese mainland.

Under the system, it takes no more than 10 seconds for vehicles with no anomalies and requiring no inspection to complete the customs checkpoint clearance.

"Vehicle owners can experience the convenience brought by the development of smart customs through this efficient process, as they only need to stop once to complete the streamlined customs procedures," said Li Kangshui, head of the customs supervision department of the bridge.

It is the first "one-stop" system for passenger and cargo vehicles developed by the bridge's customs and the first of its kind in the national customs system, according to Li.

The system integrates customs and border inspection responsibilities such as temperature monitoring, control and inspection, document verification, facial recognition, and fingerprint matching.

After policies allowing vehicles without mainland-issued plates from Macao and Hong Kong to head north into the mainland took effect on Jan 1 and July 1, respectively, the volume of traffic at the Zhuhai port has continuously reached new levels.

From January to November, the bridge customs has supervised and cleared more than 1 million vehicles entering and exiting Hong Kong and Macao.