Passenger trips through Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge surpass 10 million this year

(ECNS) -- With increasing exchanges between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Macao Special Administrative Region, and the Chinese mainland, the flow of people crossing the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has been rapidly growing this year.

According to data from the bridge border inspection station, as of 9:40 a.m. on Tuesday, the number of passenger trips entering and exiting through the Zhuhai Highway Port surpassed 10 million within 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of over 127.7 percent.

This milestone was reached four months earlier than in 2023, setting a new record for the fastest time to reach 10 million passenger trips in a year since the port opened, CCTV reported.

According to the analysis by the border inspection station, an increasing number of Hong Kong and Macau residents travel to the Chinese mainland for tourism, leisure, and consumption via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Since the beginning of this year, the number of passenger trips from Hong Kong and Macau crossing the border has reached 6.025 million, a year-on-year increase of 126.3 percent, accounting for 60.4 percent of the total passenger flow at the port. The number of single-license plate vehicles from Hong Kong and Macau has exceeded 1.095 million, with a monthly growth rate of over 10 percent.

Since the beginning of this year, the number of mainland travelers with Hong Kong and Macau tourist visas has exceeded 1.9 million, a year-on-year increase of 130 percent. The continuous popularity of mainland tourism to Hong Kong and Macauhas become another major factor driving the increase in passenger flow at the port.

CCTV reported that during weekends and holidays, the average daily passenger and vehicle flow at the Zhuhai port reaches 61,000 and 16,100 respectively, which is 1.5 times and 1.3 times the usual daily figures. Driven by weekends and holidays, the port has seen the highest single-day passenger flow exceeding 144,000 and the highest single-day vehicle flow surpassing 19,500. Both figures are new historical highs

With the facilitation of foreign travel to China and the expansion of visa-free countries, the Zhuhai Highway Port, the mainland's only port with direct road access to Hong Kong International Airport, has seen over 158,000 foreign travelers entering and exiting for business exchanges and tourism. This represents a year-on-year increase of 412.6 percent. Additionally, the number of foreign tour groups has exceeded 600, marking a 300 percent year-on-year growth.