Seven years since its opening on October 23, 2018, the 55-kilometre Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has become the world’s longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing—and a game-changer for regional travel. As of this week, the Zhuhai port has recorded more than 93.34 million inbound and outbound passenger trips.
In 2019, the border inspection station handled 12.88 million passenger crossings and 860,000 vehicle trips. Fast-forward to 2024, and those figures soared to 27 million passengers and 5.55 million vehicles. So far this year alone, the bridge has seen over 25.1 million passenger movements and 5.46 million vehicles—a 17% and 25% year-on-year surge.
Individual travel from the Chinese mainland to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region has driven much of that growth. Since January, more than 10.15 million visitors from the Chinese mainland have crossed at Zhuhai—an all-time high—including 4.6 million holders of the popular travel pass.
Beyond the impressive numbers, the bridge has reshaped day-to-day journeys. A trip that once took three hours can now be completed in around 45 minutes. Daily vehicle flows at Zhuhai port, which averaged roughly 9,000 in 2023, have doubled to over 18,000 today.
From cutting commutes to fueling weekend getaways, the bridge underscores the power of large-scale infrastructure to connect people, markets and cultures across one of the world’s busiest economic corridors.
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Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge sees over 93m passenger trips in 7 years
cgtn.com
