ZHUHAI - Macao International Airport (MIA) on Wednesday launched pilot cargo palletization on neighboring Hengqin island in Zhuhai, South China's Guangdong province, as part of its upstream cargo terminal project under construction.

This means that security screening and palletization -- the stacking of goods for transportation -- for cargo shipped from the Chinese mainland to overseas via Macao, which have so far been operated at MIA, will be gradually expanded to Hengqin.

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Construction of the Hengqin cargo terminal, located about 13 kilometers from MIA, began in October 2025. It is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2026 and officially operational in the first half of 2027.