Travel News
- Guangdong News
Date: 5-Jan-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
AS many as 1.65 billion people passed through Shenzhen's checkpoints last year, Thursday's Daily Sunshine reported.
The number of vehicles passing the checkpoints reached nearly 16 million, the report said, quoting officials with the General Administration of Checkpoints. But nearly 40,000 people were punished for violating relevant laws and regulations.
The checkpoints saw an increase of 3.6 percent in the number of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents crossing the border while the number of mainland residents and foreigners rose by 6.7 percent and 6.8 percent respectively.
Last year, the Luohu, Wenjindu and Shatoujiao checkpoints opened 90 e-channels for Hong Kong and Macao residents, allowing some 50 million travelers to cross the border more quickly.
On Jan. 1 this year, 10 do-it-yourself clearance passages were opened at the Luohu Checkpoint for mainland travelers. On the first two days of 2007, some 4,144 mainland residents used the e-channels simply by placing a travel permit on the automatic card reader and placing their thumb on the fingerprint scanner. The new practice has won praise from mainland travelers.
Some 1.5 million people passed through Shenzhen's checkpoints during the three-day New Year holiday, according to the General Administration of Checkpoints.
Officials with the administration predicted that passenger flows at the checkpoints will again increase this year and pledged to take new measures, including high-tech solutions, to further speed up the process of customs clearance to ensure the smooth flow of passengers and vehicles.
Sponsor Results:
