Fresh food supplies from Shenzhen to Hong Kong, including vegetables, meat and poultry, remain stable amid rising veggie prices in the SAR caused by a new surge of COVID cases there, according to Shenzhen’s customs, market supervision authorities, and office of port of entry and exit.
Shenzhen has specially turned Wenjindu Checkpoint in Luohu District for cross-border fresh food trucks to facilitate the border clearance for fresh goods.
Dubbed the “green lifeline” of Hong Kong, the checkpoint has seen over 100,000 tons of vegetables sent to Hong Kong since Jan. 1.
Currently, mainland truck drivers would pick up the fresh goods and pass them to Hong Kong cross-border truck drivers at a temporary interchange venue at the checkpoint.
Established in 1978, Wenjindu Checkpoint has served as a major gateway for the supply of produce from the mainland to Hong Kong. Fresh vegetables, fruits, frozen meats and livestock passing through this checkpoint accounted for 80 percent of the daily supply of such produce to Hong Kong. Data showed that in 2019, Wenjindu processed a total of 1.36 million metric tons of fresh produce to Hong Kong, valued at HK$2.78 billion (US$356 million).
At present, over 300 vehicles transport vegetables, live poultry and aquatic products from Shenzhen to Hong Kong each day, the same level to that in 2021.
Around 90 percent of fresh vegetables sold at Hong Kong’s wholesale markets come from the mainland, provided by over 600 vegetable growing bases and over 100 companies via Wenjindu, according to Hong Kong Commercial Daily.
To ensure smooth transport of fresh foods from the mainland to Hong Kong, Wenjindu Customs has set up a 24-hour hotline to answer inquiries from the companies involved, a source from Shenzhen Customs said.
At the same time, the checkpoint has opened a green channel for cross-border fresh food vehicles and adopted a smart system to improve customs efficiency to ensure no-delay fresh food transport.
Shenzhen Higreen, a company serving over 80 percent of Hong Kong’s vegetable supply, said they didn’t halt operations during the Spring Festival holiday to ensure normal fresh food supply in Hong Kong.
According to the data offered by Shenzhen Higreen, the company received a total of 5,431 tons of vegetables Saturday, showing an increase of 446 tons compared to Friday. The prices of 20 vegetables under supervision stood at 5.5 yuan (US$0.86) per kilogram Saturday, down by 8 percent quarter on quarter.
In another development, the issue of an increasing number of travelers stranded at Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint was basically addressed Thursday, according to Shenzhen Media Group on Sunday.
It is said that the issue was mainly due to some travelers not booking a slot at quarantine hotels in Shenzhen before passing through the border so they could not be transported to the hotels in a timely manner.
Travelers now need to hold a paper copy of negative nucleic acid test results taken within 24 hours when crossing the border from Hong Kong to Shenzhen, and they are required to take another test after passing through the checkpoint in Hong Kong.
Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint personnel will then arrange passengers to take buses directly to their quarantine hotels, which they should have successfully booked in advance.
Due to social distancing measures, a typical 50-seat bus can only transport 25 passengers each time. Shenzhen Bus Group addressed this by arranging for more vehicles and the group said it will ensure there are 36 vehicles available each day for quarantine hotel transport.
The number of inbound travelers at the checkpoint reached 11,246 from Feb. 3 to 9. Starting Thursday, the figure dropped to over 1,000 each day, according to Shenzhen Bay Checkpoint.