Hengqin Port to nearly double daily capacity to 220,000 trips by late 2026

Hengqin Port, the primary land crossing between Macao and Hengqin, is undergoing a major expansion that will nearly double its daily clearance capacity – from 114,900 to around 220,000 passenger trips – when construction is completed in the third quarter of this year.

The multi-phase project, which began in March, will bring the total number of immigration channels to 113, including 47 joint e-gates equipped with facial recognition technology that allow travellers to complete checks on both sides in a single process. Officials say the upgrade could reduce peak waiting times by around 45 percent.

The scale of demand makes the expansion urgent. During the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday from 19 to 21 June, Hengqin Port recorded more than 280,000 passenger trips and 36,000 vehicle clearances – up 12 percent and 34 percent year-on-year respectively. 

[See more: Macao to fast-track four major infrastructure projects, transport chief says]

Foreign visitors exceeded 5,000 during the holiday, up 23 percent, driven partly by Hengqin’s inclusion as an eligible entry point under China’s 240-hour visa-free transit policy since last November. Visitors from Hong Kong and Macao exceeded 108,000, up 31 percent, accounting for 38 percent of total traffic.

The port has also seen strong year-round growth. In the first quarter of 2026, it processed more than 9.22 million passenger trips and over 1.08 million vehicle crossings – up 31.7 percent and 46.5 percent year-on-year respectively. The 10-million-crossings milestone for 2026 was reached on 9 April, a full 29 days earlier than in 2025.

The upgrade is a key step in making daily movement between Macao and Hengqin more seamless for the more than 30,000 Macao residents living and working in the Cooperation Zone.