Cargo trucks line for customs clearance at Huanggang Port in Shenzhen, Guangdong Province on February 20, 2019. Photo: VCG

 
Shenzhen, the neighboring city of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), will renovate one of the seven ports that link it to the region and will make it the largest dock facility that provides tourist services. 

One analyst said the project is expected to attract more talent from Hong Kong to the Chinese mainland.

Public Works Bureau of Shenzhen on Friday issued a pre-announcement on WeChat of the open bidding for the new construction scheme design of Huanggang Port and the preliminary specialized architectural design. The official registration period is expected to start in late August and could last 15-20 days.

The total construction area for the new port is set at roughly 400,000 square meters, exceeding the combined total of the other six ports. The overall planning and design costs could run as high as 50 million yuan ($7.1 million), the notice said.

As one of the most important land border ports in China, Huanggang Port is located in Shenzhen's Futian district, facing Hong Kong across the river with a total land area of about 72 hectares.

The notice also said plans for the new port tentatively include a tourist inspection building, an inspection channel, a bus pick-up and drop-off area, key inspection parking lot, and a connecting layer for public transportation. It will also discontinue cargo inspection services and will become an inspection-only port for tourists.

According to an earlier released by the bureau on July 1, the reconstruction project is expected to last over three years.  

"The upgraded Huanggang Port will further strengthen the connection between Shenzhen and Hong Kong and will be more convenient to attract Hong Kong talents to the Chinese mainland," Tian Feilong, a Hong Kong affairs expert and associate professor at Beihang University, told the Global Times on Sunday.

"It will promote Hong Kong residents, specifically Hong Kong young people to understand and establish closer ties with the mainland," said Tian.

The project will recreate the image of the city portal and build it into a modern first-class hub integrating entries and exits and the three-dimensional comprehensive transport hub. 

The statement also said it aims to build an innovative national gateway that radiates the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and faces the world.

The notice followed China's approved guideline to build Shenzhen as a pilot demonstration area for socialism with Chinese characteristics, the Xinhua News Agency reported in July.

Huanggang Port was built by Hong Kong businessman Gordon Wu beginning in May 1985 and opened to the public three years later. Since 2003, it has provided 24-hour customs clearance for passenger inspections.

The Shenzhen port is both the largest comprehensive crossing for passengers and cargo in China and the only land port featuring all-weather customs clearance. It is also one of the largest land crossings in the country.