Hong Kong: Vehicles to ditch advanced bookings for midweek trips

Effective Sept 1, vehicles registered under the Northbound Travel for Hong Kong Vehicles program can cross into Guangdong without prior reservation every Tuesday and Wednesday, except during specified peak travel periods, such as on public holidays and the days prior, in Hong Kong and on the Chinese mainland, as well as on toll-free days on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

Hong Kong’s Transport Department said it’ll soon post a six-month schedule of confirmed bookings-free Tuesdays and Wednesdays on its official website, with updates to be made on the first calendar day of each month.

Macao: Passenger trips at border port surpass 100 million

Less than four years since its September 2021 opening, the Qingmao Port linking the Macao Special Administrative Region with Zhuhai has logged over 100 million inbound and outbound passenger trips, according to official data released on Aug 4.

Cementing its role as the second-busiest checkpoint between Macao and Guangdong province after Gongbei Port, Qingmao — a pedestrian-only land crossing — handled 16.3 percent of all passenger traffic between Zhuhai and the SAR last year. More than 20.78 million crossings were made in the first seven months of this year — an average of 98,000 trips daily and a 1.8 percent increase year-on-year.

Guangzhou: Smart connected vehicles industry makes progress

Guangzhou is pushing ahead as the nation’s regional hub for smart connected vehicles — automobiles equipped with advanced technology that allows them to communicate with other cars, the internet, and external devices, enabling autonomous driving. The latest municipal figures showed that 17 companies in the Guangdong provincial capital have conducted autonomous driving tests covering a total of 1.3 million hours and 24.4 million kilometers.

Reflecting on the province’s strategic push to develop automotive-grade sensors and enhance synergy between smart city infrastructure and intelligent connected vehicles, Guangzhou has doubled down by unveiling its 2025 autonomous driving action plan to facilitate policy formulation, project implementation, and scaled application.

Shenzhen: Boomtown’s appeal to foreign investors grows

Shenzhen saw robust growth in foreign investment in the first half of this year, solidifying its position as one of China’s top destinations for global capital.

The southern boomtown and technological hub recorded 5,581 newly established foreign-invested enterprises, representing 18.6 percent of the nation’s total, and marking a 51.5 percent year-on-year increase. Notably, the number of new foreign enterprises in the medical and telecommunications sectors rose 85.2 percent and 60 percent respectively, with 113 and 635 new firms established in each sector.

Zhuhai: City launches long-distance logistics route for drones

The first long-distance drone logistics route in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was launched in Zhuhai on July 30.  

A drone carrying fresh seafood completed an 82.9-kilometer intercity flight from Zhuhai’s Tangjia Port to Suigang Terminal in Guangzhou, marking the inauguration of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai low-altitude corridor.

The unmanned aircraft traversed three cities — Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Guangzhou — in about 55 minutes, cutting delivery time by 60 percent, compared with traditional land transportation.

Foshan: World-class investment environment in the making

Foshan has launched the country’s first prefecture-level investment promotion measures that are set to take effect on Sept 1.

The measures systematically outline strategies for attracting, facilitating and providing safeguards for investments, with the aim of creating a world-class business environment through legal frameworks to boost investor confidence and drive high-quality development.

In the first half of this year, the city signed agreements for 391 projects that are each valued at over 100 million yuan ($13.91 million), with a total investment of 199.118 billion yuan — a year-on-year increase of 5.24 percent.

Huizhou: City ranks fourth in nation’s H1 air quality rankings

Huizhou came in fourth in the national air quality rankings of 168 major cities conducted by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment from January to June.

In the first half of this year, the proportion of days with good air quality in Huizhou reached 96.1 percent, according to Huizhou’s ecology and environment bureau.

The bureau said it will take further measures to curb ozone pollution and enhance dust control.

Dongguan: Integrated metro links to cut residents’ commute time

Dongguan and Shenzhen are to fast-track regional integration with a trio of cross-city metro projects that could significantly shrink commuting time.

The project involves seamless rail links between Shenzhen and key areas in Dongguan, including Fenggang, Songshan Lake and Binhaiwan New District, cutting transfers via direct links, with Shenzhen’s metro lines 10 and 11 to be linked with Dongguan’s Line 3, and Line 6’s spur line in Shenzhen to be connected with Dongguan’s Line 1.

Zhongshan: Port records tourist boom in peak summer season

Since the start of the summer holidays last month, traffic at Zhongshan Passenger Port has gone up.

The port recorded more than 50,400 inbound and outbound trips in July alone — a 15 percent month-on-month growth, comprising about 26,500 outbound journeys and 23,900 inbound visits.

As a vital maritime transport hub linking Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao, the port is one of the most convenient and busiest on the western shore of the Pearl River Estuary. It handles an average of over 1,600 passenger trips daily during the summer vacation — mostly tourists, those on study tours and family visits, and shoppers.

Jiangmen: Economy remains stable in first half, GDP up 2.7%

Jiangmen’s economy remained generally stable in the first half of 2025, with its GDP reaching 194.26 billion yuan ($27.04 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 2.7 percent.

The added value of the city’s tertiary industry amounted to 96.74 billion yuan, growing 3.6 percent and leading in overall growth. However, fixed-asset investment fell 27.4 percent year-on-year, with manufacturing investment down 36 percent.

Total retail sales of consumer goods hit 63.85 billion yuan — up 3 percent, indicating continued recovery in consumption, although the Consumer Price Index fell 0.6 percent year-on-year.  

Zhaoqing: City leads province in foreign trade growth

Zhaoqing recorded Guangdong province’s fastest foreign trade growth in the first half of this year, according to the latest customs data.

The city’s total import and export value hit 20.83 billion yuan ($2.89 billion) during the period — a robust 16.7 percent year-on-year increase. Exports rose 10.5 percent to 15.01 billion yuan, while imports surged 36.4 percent to 5.82 billion yuan.

In the first six months, Zhao-qing’s trade with economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative jumped 32.6 percent, surpassing 9.13 billion yuan and accounting for 43.8 percent of the city’s total imports and exports, while trade with member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership climbed 30 percent to 7.57 billion yuan.