On February 8, the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin (hereinafter referred to as the "Cooperation Zone") and the Working Office of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Guangdong Province, issued a notice that the Cooperation Zone will be officially closed and operated from 0:00 on March 1. This is a landmark measure to achieve the development goals of the first phase of the Cooperation Zone, and an important step to promote the integrated development of Hengqin and Macao.
After the issuance of the Circular, the Co-operation Zone will successively issue documents on the identification of goods** and their tax payment status from the "second tier", allowing eligible Macao residents to bring animal and plant products into the Co-operation Zone from the "first tier", and credit information management.
The opening of the "second line" channel is an important symbol of the cooperation zone's customs closure operation. At present, the cooperation zone has built a "second-line" channel customs operation site, including 5 channels and a total of 6 places, which are located in Hengqin Bridge, Hengqin Tunnel, Shenjing Channel, Hengqin Wharf, Hengqin Station of Guangzhou-Zhuhai Urban Rail Extension Line, and Zhuhai Chimelong Station. In addition, the construction of temporary supervision facilities for the Shizimen Tunnel is being stepped up, and temporary exit measures will be implemented after passing the inspection.
On February 1, the cooperation zone has carried out a comprehensive test of the "second-line" channel Hengqin Bridge, Hengqin Tunnel and Shenjing Channel. The comprehensive test, which lasts for about one month, will provide important data support for the optimization of the traffic capacity of the "second-line" channel, and reserve time for the implementation of relevant supporting policies.
As early as 2011, the first "reply to the relevant policies on the development of Hengqin" for the first time proposed the "first-line" relaxation, "second-line" control, and at that time, the supporting fiscal and taxation policies designed by the sub-line management policy mainly carried out tax exemption or bonded for the production goods entering Hengqin, and objectively there was a certain dislocation between the policy supply and the regional development demand. In September 2021, the Master Plan for the Development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was promulgated, which optimized the path and framework for Hengqin to achieve "branch line management".
Towards the goal of "building a new system of high-level integration and opening up with Macao", the Co-operation Zone is speeding up the operation of the island-wide customs closure, realizing the "first-line" liberalization of goods and the "second-line" control, highly convenient access of personnel, innovating cross-border financial management, establishing a highly convenient market access system, and promoting the safe and orderly flow of international Internet data across borders.
In the next step, the working agencies of the Executive Committee, as well as the customs and other relevant departments, will formulate and improve the internal working mechanism as soon as possible in accordance with relevant policies and supporting measures, and accelerate the construction of the public service platform for smart ports to ensure the smooth operation of customs closure.