On December 9th, a press conference on customs support services for Macao’s better integration into the national development was held in Guangzhou, introducing measures and achievements of Guangdong customs in supporting the diversification of Macao’s economy.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland. According to customs statistics, from 1999 to 2023, the cumulative trade between Guangdong and Macao reached 307.29 billion yuan, with an average annual growth of 5.9%. In the first ten months of 2024, trade amounted to 15.88 billion yuan, exceeding the scale of the previous year, and increased by 25.7% compared to last year. Exports of Guangdong province to Macao were 15.64 billion yuan, with both import and export growth rates faster than the overall level of Guangdong during the same period.
Since the establishment of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin in 2021, customs have focused on promoting the diversification of Macao’s economy. Since the implementation of the divided line management system in March this year, the import and export scale between Hengqin and Macao has reached 750 million yuan, with a growth of 32.8%.
Customs have innovated in regulatory policies to improve the efficiency of customs clearance for people, vehicles, and goods. The Hengqin port has pioneered the one-stop inspection nationwide. Goods equipped with secure smart locks after customs inspection are able to directly fast-track for clearance in Hong Kong and Macao. It now covers 74 customs points in the mainland and 4 in Macao, connecting a total of 19 cities in Guangdong, Hunan, and Fujian, realizing the “One Lock” for enterprises across three regions.
Customs have signed 15 cooperation documents with Macao, covering five major areas: customs clearance, sanitary and phytosanitary inspection, food safety, animal and plant quarantine, and technical cooperation. For example, a “One Code Pass” traceability management information system for Macao-made food. The mutual recognition between the mainland and Macao’s “Authorized Economic Operators” (AEO) has increased, with 239 AEO enterprises in the mainland currently.
Eighty percent of the fresh products in the Macao market are supplied from the mainland, and over the past 25 years, customs have supervised the supply of more than 4.7 million tons of fresh products to Macao.
Since the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in October 2018, customs have cumulatively released more than 12.82 million vehicles entering and exiting through the port, with a total value of imports and exports amounting to 963.4 billion yuan. In the first ten months of 2024, the total value of imports and exports through the bridge port was 185.67 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10%. The value of cross-border e-commerce goods exported through the bridge port was 42.03 billion yuan, with export destinations covering 138 countries and regions.
Since implementing the “Macao Vehicles Northbound” policy on January 1, 2023, up to October of this year, 34,214 private cars from Macao have completed the recording, and customs have cumulatively supervised and verified more than 2.38 million vehicles.
Reporter | Dai Bosi
Photo | Nanfang Plus
Editor | Hu Nan, James, Shen He