ZHUHAI -- Hengqin port, which connects China's Southern coastal city Zhuhai with Lotus port in Macao, extended its service time to 24 hours on Wednesday at midnight.

The new customs clearance at Hengqin is applied to visitors and passenger cars.

Nearly 30,000 people rush to Macao from Zhuhai every morning. With the current volume, customs clearance is often laborious, prompting the extended hours to help handle traffic.

As of 7 am on Thursday, more than 800 passengers and 170 cars crossed border via Hengqin.

"We had waited too long for this moment," said a citizen surnamed Liang, who is the first passenger entering Zhuhai via the port on Thursday morning.

Approved by the State Council, three ports of entry between the mainland and Macao changed their service hours. In addition to Hengqin, Gongbei and Zhuhai-Macao cross-border industrial zone special port, also extended their service hours.

The new customs clearance policy will provide more choices to people who travel between the two places and ease the pressure of the ports. It comes before Saturday when China will celebrate the 15th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland.