China gives nod to HK checkpoint

By Vaudine England
BBC News, Hong Kong

China has granted formal permission for Hong Kong to run a customs and immigration checkpoint on Chinese soil.

The news has been welcomed by Hong Kong's trade and transport circles, and is a sign of growing links between the territory and southern China.

The agreement was formalised by a bill that passed through China's parliament.

It allows two different legal jurisdictions, China and Hong Kong, to operate border checks on goods and persons in the same place, Shenzhen.

Shenzhen is a southern Chinese trading hub where a new transport link known as the western corridor is being built.

The corridor will soon link south China's manufacturing centres more directly into Hong Kong's ports and service industries with a new highway and bridge.

Sonny Ho of the Hong Kong Shippers' Council says the corridor will double its existing capacity for cargo transport between Hong Kong and south China.

He says the bridge, which forms part of the new western corridor, is capable of carrying 30,000 vehicles a day.

Trade experts agree the ability to process both cargo and passengers efficiently in one location at the Chinese end of the new transport link is a significant boost to the area.

There have been some concerns expressed about the implications of different legal systems operating in the same place.

But experts say the agreement is an important step in growing cooperation between the special administrative region of Hong Kong and China.