Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 30th. Title: The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge breaks the "ten millions of records" again, witnessing the acceleration of integration of the Greater Bay Area

Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Hanfang

Recently, in 2025, the number of inbound and outbound passengers exceeded 10 million at the Zhuhai Highway Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in 2025, an increase of more than 18.9% year-on-year, breaking the fastest record of the number of passengers exceeding 10 million in a year since the port was opened. This world's longest cross-sea bridge is witnessing the acceleration of the integration and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with the attitude of a "flowing Greater Bay Area".

At 8 a.m., a tourist bus drove from the bridge to the elevated platform outside the port exit hall. Passengers completed the clearance within 30 seconds through the "cooperative inspection, one-time release" channel. Such scenarios have become the norm. According to statistics from the border inspection station of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, since this year, the daily passenger flow at the port has exceeded 100,000 or more passengers to 30 days, twice the same period in 2024.

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is the first super-large cross-sea transportation project jointly built by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao under the "one country, two systems". After opening, the drive from Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macau will be shortened from 3 hours to about 45 minutes.

A set of data is encouraging: Since its completion and opening to traffic in October 2018, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has continuously broken the records of traffic and passenger flow, and has increasingly become the "main artery" of personnel and cargo traffic in the Greater Bay Area. Especially in 2023, the policies of "Hong Kong car north" and "Hong Kong car north" have been implemented, and the traffic flow in and out of the country has increased rapidly, and traffic jams have occurred on weekends and holidays. Today, the average daily traffic flow of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge exceeds 15,000 vehicles, and the grand occasion of traffic flow reflects the vigorous vitality of the "one-hour living circle" in the Greater Bay Area.

Data shows that as of December 2024, the total import and export value of the Zhuhai Highway Port through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has exceeded 1 trillion yuan. In 2024, the total import and export value of Zhuhai Highway Port through the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge reached 232.9 billion yuan, an increase of 11.3% year-on-year; the cargo delivery and reception sites cover more than 230 countries and regions around the world, with an average daily export of nearly 1 million parcels through the bridge.

"We have been supplying fresh seafood to Hong Kong through the Shenzhen Wenjindu Port, which took six or seven hours to go." Weng Xipeng, general manager of Zhuhai Haimiao Aquatic Products Import and Export Co., Ltd., said, "After the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is officially opened, the products can be transported to Hong Kong in just about an hour. Not only will the survival rate of fresh seafood be greatly increased, but the transportation cost is also saved by nearly half."

The birth of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is itself an innovation in the practice of "one country, two systems". As the "super link" of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge not only promotes efficient personnel exchanges in the three places through institutional innovations such as "cooperative inspection and one-time release", but also promotes the regional economic and trade pattern with the function of "golden channel". The 24-hour customs clearance advantages and convenient transportation and logistics network at the port have made the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge a vital "logistics artery" in the Greater Bay Area.

From the convenient study of cross-border students to the efficient operation of logistics companies’ "same-day delivery"; from the boom of young people from Hong Kong and Macao to start businesses north to the convenience of "one-hour cross-border travel" for mainland tourists... The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge presents a good trend of "three-way increase" of people, cars and goods, and the radiation and driving effect is constantly improving, accelerating the interconnection and interconnection of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

During the Qingming Festival this year, Mr. Huang, a Hong Kong citizen, drove to Zhongshan to worship his ancestors through the bridge, and the whole journey took only 1.5 hours. He said: "The customs clearance is fast and the journey is close, and I truly feel the convenience of the Greater Bay Area."

"The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge is not only the geographical coordinates of the Greater Bay Area, but also a vivid footnote to the practice of 'one country, two systems'." Ye Guiping, vice president of the City University of Macau, said that behind the endless traffic flow is institutional innovation and practical breakthroughs under the framework of "one country, two systems". The "hard connectivity" of infrastructure and the "soft connectivity" of institutional rules are coordinated to achieve two-way "heart connectivity" for residents.

The May Day holiday is approaching, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, as the "super artery" of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, is expected to usher in a new round of cross-border travel for residents. A bridge crosses the vast sea, and a rainbow is permeated with one heart. From the "Century Project" to the "economic engine", the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has continuously written a new chapter in the Greater Bay Area's "people-heartedness and economic and trade integration" under the "one country, two systems".