The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) will finally open to traffic on 24 October, with the opening ceremony to be held in Zhuhai this Tuesday 23 October. Macau’s Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On will attend the ceremony.

The government held a press briefing on Friday 19 October to report progress on Macau preparations prior to the commissioning of the bridge.

Lao Wan Seong, the Deputy Commissioner of the Public Security Police Force, confirmed that Macau has prepared its checkpoint services.

The facilities offering boundary crossing services for passengers and vehicles travelling between Macau and Hong Kong will be open 24 hours a day once the bridge is launched.

For the Zhuhai-Macau crossing, the facilities offering clearance service for vehicles will also be open round-the-clock. However, in order to ensure appropriate allocation of resources in the early stages of the bridge’s operations, the facilities offering Zhuhai-Macau boundary crossing services for passengers will be closed between 10pm and 8am the following day. During that time, Macau travellers bound for Zhuhai (and vice-versa) can use the Zhuhai-Macau boundary point vehicle clearance channels or the Hong Kong-Macau boundary crossing point.

Customs clearance between Macau and Zhuhai will be carried out on a “Joint Inspection and One-time Release” principle in order to make the process efficient for travelers using the bridge.

Under the new inspection system, travelers will be required to pass border controls only once – via either the automatic, semi-automatic, or manned channels depending on the identification documents – to complete the departure and arrival formalities.