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Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam hails opening of new border checkpoint between city and Shenzhen
- Heung Yuen Wai-Liantang crossing will be the first land-based one in Hong Kong with direct access facilities for both passengers and vehicles
- The checkpoint is open for cargo only because of the pandemic
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A much-delayed new border checkpoint between Hong Kong and Shenzhen opened on Wednesday. Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said it would further foster the “one-hour living circle” around the city, parts of Guangdong province and Macau.
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The checkpoint in the northern New Territories – named Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point in Hong Kong and Liantang Port in Shenzhen – is expected to serve as a gateway to the Greater Bay Area, an economic development zone linking Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in mainland China’s Guangdong.
Work on the border crossing, which cost HK$33.7 billion (US$4.3 billion), was delayed by more than 18 months.
Lam attended the opening ceremony in Shenzhen on Wednesday morning. The mainland city is also celebrating the 40th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen special economic zone.
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Guangdong Communist Party chief Li Xi, provincial governor Ma Xingrui, Zhang Xiaoming, deputy director of the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, and central government liaison office director Luo Huining also attended the ceremony.
The new crossing is the seventh land-based control point on the border between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and adds to Hong Kong’s 14 existing control points on sea, air and land.
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