Chen Siqi vankochensq@163.com THE Huanggang Checkpoint, which is still under renovation, is expected to reopen in 2026, according to a press conference held by the city government Thursday. This was the second of a series of press conferences the city has planned recently after the Central Government issued a set of guidelines on further advancing comprehensive reforms in Shenzhen last week. Once completed, the new checkpoint will cease cargo inspection services and transition to a traveler-only facility under a joint-checkpoint, co-location arrangement. This change is expected to significantly reduce customs clearance time from the previous 30 minutes to just five minutes. When taking vehicles to the checkpoint, travelers will only have to get off once to go through the cross-border inspections from both Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the checkpoint building. The conference also revealed that the new Huanggang Checkpoint will free up 400,000 square meters of space for scientific research facilities, as its footprint has been reduced from over 500,000 square meters to just 75,000. The Shenzhen Park of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, where the Huanggang Checkpoint is located, is expected to create 1.8 million square meters of space for international collaborative innovation. In the future, a residential community for international talent will be built in the area northeast of the new Huanggang Checkpoint, including 18,000 square meters of space for facilities such as medical and educational institutions. The new Huanggang Checkpoint is designed to handle a peak daily capacity of 200,000 travelers initially and will scale up to 300,000 in the future. It will also connect to five rail lines, including Shenzhen Metro Line 7 and the spur line of the Hong Kong MTR Northern Link. Prior to its renovation, which began in June 2019, the Huanggang Checkpoint was the only border crossing in the city that operated 24/7 and ranked among the largest land crossings in the country. | 