Hengqin (, ) is an

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

that lies mostly in

Zhuhai Zhuhai; Yale romanization of Cantonese, Yale: ''Jyūhói''; Chinese postal romanization, also known as Chuhai is a prefecture-level city located on the west bank of the Pearl River (China), Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern ...

, a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

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 ...

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. It has a population of about 3,000. Parts of Hengqin are leased to

Macau Macau or Macao is a special administrative regions of China, special administrative region of the People's Republic of China (PRC). With a population of about people and a land area of , it is the most List of countries and dependencies by p ...

by the

State Council of the People's Republic of China The State Council of the People's Republic of China, also known as the Central People's Government, is the chief administrative authority and national cabinet. It is constitutionally the highest administrative organ of the country and the e ...

, starting from 2009, mostly to house the new campus of the

University of Macau The University of Macau (UM or UMAC) is a public comprehensive research university in Macau. The university campus is located in Hengqin, Hengqin Island, Zhuhai, Guangdong, on a piece of land leased to and under the jurisdiction of the Governmen ...

. In the leased parts of the island, Macau law applies. The whole island is designated a special economic district, as the Hengqin New Area, similar to Binhai New Area in

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

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 cit ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

Geography

Hengqin Island is adjacent to the

Taipa Taipa ( zh, t=氹仔, ; , ) is an area in Macau, connected to Coloane through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Located on the northern half of the island, Taipa's population is mostly suburban. Administrativ ...

and

Coloane Coloane ( Chinese: 路環, Portuguese: ''Coloane'') is the southernmost area in Macau, connected to Taipa through the area known as Cotai, which is largely built from reclaimed land. Known as “''Lou Wan''” in Cantonese, Coloane forms the sou ...

districts of

, with the Shisanmen Waterway separating them, and is connected to Macau's

Cotai Cotai ( zh, t=路氹城, cy=Louhtáhm Sìhng; ) is a piece of land reclamation, reclaimed land on the top of the Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau that has connected two independent islands since 2005. The name, which is ...

via the

Lotus Bridge Lotus or LOTUS may refer to: Plants * List of plants known as lotus, a list of various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: **'' Nelumbonaceae'', a single-genus family of aquatic flowering plants, consisting of just two species; ...

. 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 (; ) and Dahengqin (; ), which were recently connected as a result of

land reclamation Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake ...

. The reclaimed island is large.

History

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

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 de 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and Macau. On 27 June 2009 the

government of Macau The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, commonly known as the Macao Government, is the Executive_(government), executive authorities of Macau. Formed on 20 December 1999 in accordance with the Sino-Portuguese Joint Declarati ...

officially announced that the

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 (NPCSC) is the permanent body of the National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature of the People's Republic of China. It exercises the powers of the NPC when it is not in s ...

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 Corp. is an American casino and resort company with corporate headquarters in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. It was founded by Sheldon Adelson, Sheldon G. Adelson and his partners out of the Sands Hotel and Casino on the Las ...

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 2 ...

, 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 opened in September 2015. It currently hosts three international competitions: the WTA Elite Trophy, the Zhuhai Open and the Asia-Pacific Wildcard Playoff for the

Australian Open The Australian Open (stylized ΛO) is a tennis tournament organised by Tennis Australia annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. It is chronologically the first of the four Grand Slam (tennis), Grand Sl ...

Gallery

File:ZH 珠海 Zhuhai 橫琴 Hengqin 琴政路 Qinzheng Road November 2023 R12S 102.jpg File:ZH 珠海 Zhuhai 橫琴 Hengqin 琴政路 Qinzheng Road November 2023 R12S 120.jpg File:ZH 珠海 Zhuhai 橫琴 Hengqin 琴政路 Qinzheng Road November 2023 R12S 103.jpg File:ZH 珠海 Zhuhai 橫琴 Hengqin 琴政路 Qinzheng Road November 2023 R12S 104.jpg File:ZH 珠海 Zhuhai 橫琴 Hengqin 琴政路 Qinzheng Road November 2023 R12S 106.jpg

Subdistricts of Hengqin New Area

Zhuhai Hengqin Island administrative division

* 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

Mainland Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or demogr ...

and Macau projects such as

's new campus * Eastern Residential and Commercial Zone – Macau Cotai-

Lotus bridge Lotus or LOTUS may refer to: Plants * List of plants known as lotus, a list of various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: **'' Nelumbonaceae'', a single-genus family of aquatic flowering plants, consisting of just two species; ...

-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

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 Geography of Zhuhai Towns in Guangdong Islands of Guangdong Islands of China Ports of Entry of China