Shenzhen customs plan to open new checkpoints at Shenzhen Bay, Dachan Bay and in Futian District this year.

The Shenzhen Bay and Futian control points are expected to begin operations before July 1, Xinhua reports.

The Shenzhen Bay checkpoint beside the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Western Corridor will become the largest highway customs control point in China.

The Futian checkpoint is connected to the Shenzhen metro No 4 line and is expected to handle 250,000 travellers every day, helping to ease some of the congestion at the Luo Wu checkpoint.

The Dachan Bay checkpoint will be working before the completion of phase one of the CNY25 billion (US$3.21 billion) Dachan Bay terminal commences operation in 2008. Once all four phases of the terminal have been completed, the facility will have an annual handling capacity of 10 million TEU.

In addition to these new customs posts, Shenzhen has applied to set up a fourth in the city itself.