The Zhuhai Port on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge handled 27 million passenger trips and 5.55 million vehicle trips in 2024, both record highs, official data showed on Friday.
In 2024, the passenger flow and vehicle flow through the Zhuhai Port rose by 72 percent and 71 percent year on year, respectively, according to the border inspection station on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.
The 55-kilometer bridge links China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), the Macao SAR and the city of Zhuhai in south China's Guangdong Province. It is the world's longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing. In 2024, the Zhuhai Port registered 16.2 million border entries and exits by travelers from Hong Kong and Macao, a sharp increase of 63 percent year on year, and accounting for nearly 60 percent of the total passenger flow through the port, the data showed.
Peak passenger flow through the port occurred frequently on weekends and holidays.
In the year, more than 5.24 million of the border entries and exits were made by tourists, 55 percent higher than 2023. The surge can be attributed to the constant expansion of the Individual Travel Scheme to allow more mainland cities to issue individual travel endorsements for trips to Hong Kong and Macao.
In 2024, there were 50 days in which the daily passenger flow through the port exceeded 100,000 trips, a 10-fold increase over 2023.
On February 13, 2024, the daily passenger flow reached 144,000 trips, the highest since the bridge opened to public traffic in October 2018.
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge sees record high traffic flow in 2024
China is accelerating the commercialization of marine scientific and technological achievements and fostering new quality productive forces by boosting support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the marine sector, with a focus on investment and financing to drive industry growth.
The development of marine industries is marked by substantial investments, high risks, and slow returns. However, with strong national support, some companies, such as Zhejiang Startest Marine Science and Technology Co., Ltd. in east China, have achieved notable success.
The company is a national high-tech enterprise specializing in the independent research and development of underwater sonar detection equipment and underwater information data systems.
It now holds more than 210 intellectual property rights for its designs.
"We are now fully capable of replacing similar foreign imported products with our own ones, thereby overcoming the bottleneck in production caused by foreign product embargoes," said Su Xiaoyang, president of Zhejiang Startest Marine Science and Technology Co., Ltd.
While some marine SMEs, such as Shenzhen HiCloud Data Center Technology Co., Ltd., China's first underwater data center equipment and service provider, have mastered core technologies, a gap remains compared to international standards. As a result, continuous investment is necessary for them to overcome critical technological challenges.
"The Underwater Data Center Pilot Project is a new infrastructure initiative requiring a significant initial investment and scale effects. However, both users and investors in the market still lack a comprehensive understanding of the project's strategic significance, including the technical risks associated with emerging technologies," said Pu Ding, general manager of the Underwater Data Center Pilot Project in Hainan under Shenzhen HiCloud Data Center Technology Co., Ltd.
To address the challenges faced by marine SMEs in securing investment and financing, the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR), along with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, has organized a series of roadshows since 2016. Over 200 marine SMEs and innovation teams have participated, securing more than 3 billion yuan (around 409.8 million U.S. dollars) in financing.
In addition to these efforts, the MNR, in collaboration with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, launched China Ocean Economy Stock Price Index in 2024, covering 20 marine and related industries.
"This is the first domestic comprehensive index in the marine sector, covering all the markets of Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing, and Hong Kong. It provides timely insights into the operational performance of listed companies in the marine industry and plays an important role in promoting the efficient allocation of financial capital to the marine real economy," said Feng Lei, deputy director of the Ocean Strategic Planning and Economic Department under the Ministry of Natural Resources.
Small marine firms accelerate commercialization of sci-tech achievements under greater policy support
