China's top legislature is expected vote on a bill which will allow Hong Kong to set up a customs office in the neighboring port city of Shenzhen in the Chinese mainland.

 

The draft bill, tabled to the 24th Session of the 10th Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for the second reading by the State Council, is aimed at facilitating passenger and vehicle custom clearance between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

 

The NPC Law Committee suggested the legislature adopt the draft bill at the current session, which will end on Oct. 31.

 

The HKSAR government will exercise its customs laws and regulations from offices located on the land leased from the city of Shenzhen, once the bill is adopted.

 

Experts said that considering the great difficulty of setting up a customs office on the Hong Kong side by sea filling, it is necessary to set up the HKSAR customs office on the land of Shenzhen.

 

In March 2002, the State Council gave the green light to a new model of "one port, two customs offices", proposed by the HKSAR government.

 

Located in Shenzhen Bay Port, the new customs port will be operational by the middle of next year and will be able to handle 58,600 vehicles and 60,000 passengers per day.

 

Shenzhen and Hong Kong will follow their own legal and law enforcement procedures and use their own resources to examine passengers, auto vehicles and goods in and out of the port.

 

In the past five years, the number of passengers in and out Hong Kong via Lo Wu and three other land ports increased from 100 million in 2000 to 140 million in 2005.

 

Since the beginning of this year, over 50,000 vehicles have entered and departed Hong Kong each day.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 28, 2006)