Expressway expansion

SHENZHEN will initiate a project in 2019 to expand Jihe Expressway, an east-west expressway that links Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor in the west and Huiyan Expressway in the east, into a two-way, eight-lane expressway. The project will be completed in 2023, in time for the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor.

The 44-km, two-way and six-lane expressway is heavily loaded with about 252,000 vehicles a day, beyond its designed capacity of 210,000 vehicles daily.

The expansion project is estimated to cost 6 billion yuan (US$882 million), according to the city’s transport commission.

Schoolbag smuggling

HUANGGANG Customs recently uncovered 10 smuggling cases, in which the schoolbags of border-crossing children were used to smuggle smart phones, skin-care and cosmetic products, as well as birds’ nests, with a market value of more than 1 million yuan.

The products were carried by children crossing the border to come home in Shenzhen after they finished school in Hong Kong.

In the 10 bags, customs officers seized 90 iPhone 7, 100 iPhone 6 and 80 Samsung S8 phones as well as other products.

There are about 30,000 children who cross the border for schooling in Hong Kong every day, mainly through Luohu, Huanggang, Futian and Shenzhen Bay checkpoints.

Fantawild ranking

THE Shenzhen-based Fantawild, a theme park and entertainment group, was ranked 5 on the Top 10 Theme Park Groups Worldwide list with the number of visitors in 2016 seeing a 37-percent surge from 2015, according to the Global Attractions and Attendance Report jointly released by U.S.-based researchers Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM recently.

In 2015, 23 million people worldwide visited theme parks operated by the company.

Safety seats in cabs

A SELECTED number of taxis in the city will soon have children’s safety seats installed on a trial basis, according to the city’s transport commission.

The safety seats will be funded by the city government. Residents can make reservations for taxis equipped with children’s safety seats by calling 96880. Under related laws in the city, children aged below 4 are required to use a safety seat in a vehicle.