Hong Kong lawmakers call for facial recognition system at upgraded land crossing

Hong Kong legislators have called for facial recognition technology to be adopted at the upgraded Huanggang land crossing while giving an initial green light to a HK$1.75 billion (US$223 million) government proposal to site border clearance facilities in the complex.

At a meeting of the Legislative Council’s security panel on Monday, some lawmakers also expressed concern that the expanded Huanggang checkpoint, which was designed to handle 200,000 passengers and 15,000 vehicles every day between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, could overload nearby traffic.

In addition to co-location arrangements that allow travellers to clear immigration channels in both jurisdictions at a single site, Secretary for Security Chris Tang Ping-keung told the panel that a new clearance model would be adopted.

The two governments would set up counters side by side inside the port to enhance border clearance efficiency, he said.

The “collaborative inspection and joint clearance” model, currently used at some checkpoints between Macau and Zhuhai, will allow travellers to queue once for immigration clearance, shortening the time from around half an hour to five minutes.

“These efforts aim to facilitate the efficient and smooth flow of people and goods, and thus strengthen the connectivity between Hong Kong and other cities in the Greater Bay Area,” Tang said.