In the first year of the 15th Five Year Plan, Hong Kong has integrated into the overall development of the country, and transportation has taken the lead in creating a new chapter. Since its implementation, the overall operation of "Hong Kong cars heading north" and "Guangdong cars heading south" has been orderly and smooth. During this year's May Day Golden Week in mainland China, "Hong Kong cars heading north" accounted for nearly 50% of the two-way traffic flow on the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, and "Guangdong cars heading south" exceeded the reservation by two to three times, requiring lottery allocation of travel quotas. Our goal is to make good use of the important national infrastructure of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge. ”During a recent interview with reporters, the Secretary for Transport and Logistics of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Chen Meibao, said that Hong Kong will seize the development opportunities of the 15th Five Year Plan, adhere to the priority of transportation, continue to deepen cross-border connectivity between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and jointly draw a new blueprint for the integrated development of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area. From "Hong Kong cars heading north" to "Guangdong cars heading south": upgrading two-way travel. In terms of cross-border land transportation, Chen Meibao described "Guangdong cars heading south" as an important policy breakthrough to help deepen the integration of the Greater Bay Area. The latest data shows that in April 2026, the two-way traffic flow of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge was about 520000 vehicles, with an average of about 17200 vehicles per day, of which "Hong Kong vehicles heading north" accounted for about 40%. Chen Meibao said that since the launch of "Hong Kong cars heading north", its traffic volume has accounted for a considerable proportion of the traffic volume of the Hong Kong Zhuhai Macao Bridge, which is a very good development momentum. As a two-way response to "Hong Kong cars heading north", "Guangdong cars heading south" effectively promotes two-way exchanges between the two places. Chen Meibao revealed that the policy of "Guangdong cars heading south" entering the urban area of Hong Kong has been officially implemented, and the first batch of four cities including Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Jiangmen, and Zhongshan have been opened up; As of the end of April this year, the Transport Department of the Special Administrative Region Government has issued about 7000 electronic permits, with a total of over 5000 scheduled trips. According to customs data in March, about 90% of inbound passengers from Guangdong vehicles stayed in Hong Kong for one to two days, bringing popularity and foot traffic to Hong Kong's hotels, retail, exhibitions, and cultural programs, fully reflecting the original intention of 'Guangdong vehicles heading south' to benefit the economy and people's livelihood. ”Chen Meibao said. She stated that the SAR government plans to gradually expand the applicable cities from the current four cities to other cities in Guangdong Province, and is currently discussing with the Guangdong side to gradually increase the daily quota by 100, in order to achieve deep and convenient interconnection between Guangdong and Hong Kong. In response to a suggestion from a Legislative Council member to increase the clearance port for "Hong Kong vehicles heading north" and extend the clearance time at Liantang Port, Chen Meibao stated that specific measures such as expanding the port will be gradually studied based on the implementation situation and comprehensive evaluation of port capacity, with the premise of safety and controllability to promote policy implementation. The Hong Kong Shenzhen Western Railway has embarked on a new journey. In March of this year, "promoting the preliminary work of the Hong Kong Shenzhen Western Railway" was officially included in the national "15th Five Year Plan" outline. The inclusion of the Hong Kong Shenzhen Western Railway in the '15th Five Year Plan' outline is of great significance for deepening the development of the Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area, "said Chen Meibao. Currently, both Hong Kong and Shenzhen are fully promoting project exploration and design work through the 'Hong Kong Shenzhen Cross border Rail Infrastructure Construction Special Team'. Chen Meibao mentioned that through cooperation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, as an innovative model in construction and operation, synchronous construction and unified operation can be achieved. This railway has both cross-border functions and local transportation modes in the Hong Kong section, serving the public simultaneously. She said that the Highways Department of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government has released a new "Hong Kong Railway Standard", which incorporates the best aspects of national railway standards while adhering to international railway standards. This standard will be applied to the Hong Kong Shenzhen Western Railway, allowing future public bidding participants to leverage the advantages of national standards and achieve the goal of speeding up, improving efficiency, and reducing costs. In addition, unlike the traditional model of inviting MTR Corporation to build, the Hong Kong Shenzhen Western Railway hopes to introduce innovative technologies through an open bidding process, and join forces with the strongest builders, operators, and property developers to build the cross-border railway to the best of their ability. Regarding the widely concerned issue of railway extension, Chen Meibao said that the Hong Kong Shenzhen Western Railway has reserved flexibility to extend northward to Shenzhen Airport and Nansha, and can discuss extension plans with Shenzhen. To the south, the SAR government will also conduct research this year, including the technical feasibility and cost-effectiveness of extending different routes from Hung Shui Kiu to Lantau Island, Hin O or the airport. If there can be some extensions in both the south and north, I think it would be a better supplement to the role of cross-border railways. ”Chen Meibao said. In the context of global geopolitical challenges and fierce competition among shipping ports, Chen Meibao candidly stated that Hong Kong's port throughput is facing challenges, and the shipping industry is the core area where the Special Administrative Region needs to quickly break through the "change seeking" in order to achieve high-quality development. Chen Meibao pointed out that while consolidating traditional advantages, Hong Kong shipping must accelerate the cultivation of new quality productivity and actively promote the transformation and upgrading of supply chains and high-end shipping services. In response to this, the "15th Five Year Plan" outline also proposed for the first time to support Hong Kong in "building a commodity trading ecosystem and a high value-added supply chain service center". She said, "In addition to expanding the multimodal transportation system of rail, sea, land, and river, we also hope to further enhance the competitiveness of high-end shipping services. Hong Kong has the advantages of fast customs clearance, complete legal and financial systems." In order to implement the new requirements proposed in the "15th Five Year Plan", Chen Meibao said that the Transport and Logistics Bureau plans to promote legislation in two aspects in 2026: first, to increase tax incentives for bulk commodity traders, attract global bulk commodity traders to settle in Hong Kong, and fully leverage the advantages of high-end shipping services; The second is to optimize the transportation laws, simplify the transportation permit arrangements for air to sea or multimodal transport, and strive to make Hong Kong a more efficient transshipment port, effectively expanding the sources of freight. The 15th Five Year Plan is a new starting point and a great opportunity. ”Chen Meibao is full of confidence, "The Transport and Logistics Bureau will take railways as the guide, cross-border transportation as the lever, and logistics upgrading as the new engine, injecting sustained momentum into high-quality economic development in both the southbound and Greater Bay Area directions, making bridges more accessible, networks more advanced, and citizens more satisfied." (Outlook for the New Era)