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Hengqin (, pt, Ilha da Montanha) is an
island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
in
Zhuhai Zhuhai (, ; Yale: ''Jyūhói''), also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China, on the southeastern edge of Pearl ...
, a
prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...
and
special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
in
Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
of the
People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin were leased to
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
by the
State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council, constitutionally synonymous with the Central People's Government since 1954 (particularly in relation to local governments), is the chief administrative authority of the People's Republic of China. It is chaired by the p ...
starting in 2009, with the area expanding. In the leased parts of the island, Macau law applies. The whole island is designated a special economic district, as Hengqin New Area, similar to
Binhai New Area Binhai, officially known as Binhai New Area (), is a sub-provincial district and state-level new area within the jurisdiction of Tianjin Municipality in the People's Republic of China. Binhai is intended to replicate development seen in ...
in
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
and
Pudong New Area Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...
in
Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...
.


Geography

Hengqin Island is adjacent to the
Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; pt, Taipa, ) was a former island in Macau, presently united with the island of Coloane by reclaimed land known as Cotai. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil parish Freguesia de Nossa Senhora do Ca ...
and
Coloane Coloane (Cantonese: Lou Wan) is a former island in Macau that is united with the island of Taipa by an area of reclaimed land known as Cotai. It is located at the southern part of Macau. Administratively, the boundaries of the traditional civil pa ...
districts of
Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...
, with the Shisanmen Waterway separating them, and is connected to Macau's
Cotai Cotai (; pt, Zona do Aterro de Cotai) is a piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has made two independent islands become one island, since 2005. The word (a portmanteau of Coloan ...
via the
Lotus Bridge Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
. The island is the largest among the 146 islands of Zhuhai, being roughly three times the size of Macau. It has broad bays, sandy beaches, strangely shaped jagged rocks, scenery, and natural vegetation cover. Hengqin was formerly made up of two islands, Xiaohengqin (; pt, Dom João) and Dahengqin (; pt, Montanha), which were recently connected as a result of
land reclamation Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...
. The reclaimed island is large.


History

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
claimed both Xiao Hengqin and Da Hengqin, along with the larger former island of Wanzai (Portuguese: '' Lapa'') — now a peninsula — to their north, as part of the Província da Macau, because "Portuguese schools are established there". In 1896, Portuguese determined to occupy the two islands of Hengqin, but did not succeed in doing so. Portugal briefly occupied them before
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Since the land reclamation and development, there has been a growing opinion in Macau that the island should be leased to Macau, which has very limited land and little room for further development. By 1 September 2005, plans were revealed that the government of Guangdong will allow tax exemptions and adopt flexible immigration control in Hengqin to promote investment from
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
and Macau. On 27 June 2009 the
government of Macau The Government of the Macau Special Administrative Region (; Portuguese: Governo da R.A.E. de Macau; conventional short name Macau Government, 澳門政府, Governo de Macau), are headed by secretariats or commissioners and report directly to ...
officially announced that the
University of Macau The University of Macau (UM; Portuguese: ''Universidade de Macau'', Chinese: 澳門大學) is an internationalised public comprehensive university in Macau. The UM campus is located in the east of Hengqin Island, Guangdong province in Mainland ...
would build its new campus on 1 km2 of the island, in a stretch directly facing the Cotai area, south of the current border post. This would be the first of other possible projects. Construction of the campus would take three years and would include an underwater tunnel. The
Standing Committee of the National People's Congress The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC) of the People's Republic of China (PRC), which is the highest organ of state po ...
officially adopted a decision authorising Macau to exercise jurisdiction over the new campus on its opening. Macau law would apply in the university campus and it would not be necessary to pass a formal border post. The Macau Special Administrative Region will pay an amount of rent – which has not yet been set – for the use of the land. In early 2013 the Macau Legislative Assembly passed Law 3/2013 providing for the application of Macau Law in the campus effective on opening day. In 2020 the Macau Legislative Assembly passed Law 1/2020 providing for the application of Macau Law in a part of Hengqin Port. Macau's juridisction over this area became effective on 18 March.


Tourism

With Hengqin island, the goal of the authorities is to create a combined Las Vegas and Orlando for Asia, with an expansive casino offering in Macau, and at the same time non-gaming leisure and tourist activities. In late 2005,
Las Vegas Sands Las Vegas Sands Corporation is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Paradise, Nevada, United States. Its corporate mission is to create "Integrated Resorts" which feature a combination of gambling, accommodation, ...
openly discussed its multibillion-dollar plan to develop parts of Hengqin Island into a convention and resort destination. The project was to include four million sq ft of convention space, hotels, retail, vacation homes, and golf, tennis and yachting amenities. Las Vegas Sands press release, 1/11/2007 On 29 November 2010, the main body of the Chime-Long International Ocean Resort (with an initial investment of 10 billion yuan) kicked off the construction on Hengqin Island and was originally expected to become operational in 2013. The
Chimelong Ocean Kingdom Chimelong Ocean Kingdom is a theme park situated in Hengqin, Zhuhai, People's Republic of China. It was designed by PGAV Destinations. The park broke ground on 28 November 2010 and soft-opened on 28 January 2014. The grand opening occurred on 29 ...
, consisting of entertainment facilities, amusement rides, performances, high-tech experiences and animal watching as well as the dolphin-themed hotel with 1,888 guest rooms was opened in 2014, and has been the 11th most visited theme park in the world in 2017. The
Hengqin International Tennis Center Hengqin International Tennis Center ( zh, 横琴国际网球中心) is a tennis stadium complex in Hengqin, Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China. It is operated by Huafa Sports, part of the Zhuhai Huafa Group. It currently hosts three international ...
opened in September 2015. It currently hosts three international competitions: the
WTA Elite Trophy The WTA Elite Trophy is the second-tier year-end professional women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour. It is the successor event of the different format WTA Tournament of Champions, which took place from 2009–14. The Elite Trophy takes place ...
, the Zhuhai Open and the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff for the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
.


Subdistricts of Hengqin New Area

* Northwestern Zone – reserved for environmentally friendly development projects * Northern Zone – A Bridge and main entrance between Central Zhuhai and Hengqin New Area * Northeastern Exhibition Zone – development of an exhibition center and hotels * Central Channel – develop as a leisure and recreational theme park * Eastern Residential and Commercial Zone – co-development of the PRC and Macau's projects such as
University of Macau The University of Macau (UM; Portuguese: ''Universidade de Macau'', Chinese: 澳門大學) is an internationalised public comprehensive university in Macau. The UM campus is located in the east of Hengqin Island, Guangdong province in Mainland ...
's new campus * Eastern Residential and Commercial Zone – Macau Cotai-
Lotus bridge Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
-Hengqin port * Eastern Residential and Commercial Zone – Hengqin railway station * Eastern Residential and Commercial Zone – Hengqin hospital * Southern Tourist Zone – A future tourism attraction which is further divided into seven sub-zones ** Theme Park Area ** Seaside Hotel Area ** Natural Tourist Area ** Scenic Area ** Water Activities Area ** Seaside Holiday Resort Area ** Golf Course Holiday Resort Area *
Hengqin Bridge Hengqin Bridge () is a suspension bridge in Zhuhai, Guangdong, China. It is in length and was constructed at a cost of CNY 320 million. Construction started in 1992 and the bridge was completed in 1999. Prior to 2013 it was the only bridge linki ...


References


External links


Hengqin New Area official website
*Edmonds, Richard Louis
"Macau in the Pearl River Delta and Beyond"
China Perspectives, no. 44, November–December 2002
Satellite image by Google Maps
{{Authority control Islands of Zhuhai Islands of the South China Sea Economy of Macau Islands of Macau History of Macau Former Portuguese colonies Geography of Zhuhai Towns in Guangdong