Luohu District officially opened a service center for foreign nationals and residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan on July 24, consolidating consular, legal, business and other civic services into a single facility.

The Luohu Service Center for Overseas Personnel, located on Dongmen South Road, operates Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon and 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., excluding public holidays. Services can be booked by phone at 0755-84460465 or 0755-84460464.

The center consolidates resources from public security, justice, commerce, foreign affairs and neighborhood administrative offices. It offers five core service areas: public security document processing, legal aid, business networking, daily living assistance, and community events.

Under its public security services, the center provides accommodation registration, visa-overstay resolution, travel permit processing for Hong Kong and Macao residents, and resident permit verification. Legal services include in-person consultations with law firms, notarization, and commercial mediation.

The business desk focuses on tax, human resources and insurance needs, while the lifestyle services team offers guidance on residence permits, employment, health care, property rentals and purchases, and apostille certification. The center also hosts cultural exchanges, legal seminars and health talks to help newcomers integrate into local communities.

Luohu, which borders Hong Kong, houses three checkpoints — Luohu, Wenjindu and Liantang — that processed more than 100 million border crossings in 2025. In the first half of 2026, passenger traffic at Luohu Checkpoint alone exceeded 30 million, up 21% year on year, according to district data.

The district has reduced visa-processing times at checkpoints to under 30 minutes and introduced a streamlined duty-refund system. It has opened a departure tax refund facility at Luohu Checkpoint and added 520 duty-free shops within the district in the past year, while expanding multilingual services and cross-border transport links.

The center’s opening comes as Shenzhen prepares to host the 2026 APEC meeting, with officials expecting further growth in cross-border travel, business collaboration, and cultural exchange.

Anna Machneva, a Russian Ph.D. student at South China University of Technology, praised the center’s bright, comfortable environment and comprehensive service offerings after visiting the center.

Machneva, who has lived in China for five years, highlighted the efficiency of the center’s integrated service model, contrasting it with her past experience of visiting multiple locations to sort out visa matters. “Now, I can handle everything directly here, which is more convenient,” she said.