Photo: Dr. Jean-Paul Rodrigue, 2005.
Freight flows between China and the rest of the world tend to be imbalanced, with a greater quantity of outbound traffic. Since the port of Hong Kong is an important outlet for the Pearl River Delta’s exports, a significant share of cross-border freight traffic concerns empty loads towards Shenzhen. Procedures have been developed to accommodate such flows. To expedite the border crossing process, truck drivers are asked to leave the back door open so that customs officers can see with a glance that the truck is empty.