The number of vehicles traversing through the Zhuhai Port of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) in Zhuhai, south China’s Guangdong Province, reached 10,300 on Sunday, surpassing the milestone of 10,000 vehicles for the first time in a single day, HZMB border inspection station said on Monday.

As “Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles” and “Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles” policies are officially put into effect, combined with the peak summer travel season, the vehicle flux passing through the Zhuhai Port is witnessing a steady increase.

Supported by the policies, self-drive travel gains popularity as a preferred tourism option to the Chinese mainland among residents from Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region.

A representative from the HZMB border inspection station explained that since the inception of the “Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles” policy on January 1, 2023, the station has processed vehicular clearances for over 550,000 single-licensed vehicles from Hong Kong and Macao as of Sunday.

This year, the vehicle flow through the Zhuhai Port has exceeded 1.58 million, a threefold increase compared to the same period in 2019, said the representative, adding that the increasing single-licensed vehicles from Hong Kong constitutes the primary driver behind the surge of inbound and outbound traffic at the port.

A notable increase has been observed in single-licensed vehicles from Hong Kong since the beginning of August, the representative said.

During the first week of the month, nearly 3,000 such vehicles from Hong Kong are recorded at the port, which is 6.8 times the number for the same period in July. On Sunday, the number of single-licensed vehicles from Hong Kong exceeded the 1,000 threshold in a single day for the first time since the policy’s implementation on June 1.

Lin Meihong, an official of the HZMB border checkpoint, affirmed that as the number of qualified Hong Kong vehicle owners continues to grow, the flow of vehicles entering and exiting the HZMB is expected to sustain its peak. The checkpoint is committed to refine the clearance procedures, thus facilitating people-to-people exchanges between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.