HK Officials Attend First Meeting on HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 29, 2003

HK Officials Attend First Meeting on HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

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Three Hong Kong officials led by Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung left Hong Kong for Guangzhou Friday to attend the first coordination meeting on the construction of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge.

The coordination group on the advance work of the bridge consists of nine representatives from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

The aim of the group is to harmonize the advance work of the bridge construction and push forward the research on the economic benefits, structure, environmental and hydrological conditions of the bridge.

The cost of the advance work will be shared by the three sides.The report of the advance work will be submitted to the State Development and Reform Commission.

Backgrounder: HK-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge

A huge bridge will be built in south China connecting Hong Kong on the eastern side of the Pearl River, and Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Foshan cities, as well as Macao, on the western side of the river.

A preliminary analysis report on the bridge has been completed by related departments, proving the necessity of building the bridge and suggesting a "Y" form design.

According to the design, the bridge will be 28 kilometers long with a total cost of about 15 billion Hong Kong dollars (1.92 billion US dollars). Some experts have also proposed other designssuch as a combination of bridge and undersea tunnel.

The idea of building a land route connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao in the Pearl River Delta area can be traced back to nearly two decades ago.

Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, chairman of the Hopewell Holdings Limited of Hong Kong, proposed in 1983 to construct a bridge linking Hong Kong and Zhuhai, with an aim to allow Hong Kong businessmen to explore the low cost labor force in the western part of Guangdong Province and promote economic development in theregion.

The construction of the bridge is expected to have great influence on the labor force flow and logistics in the Pearl RiverDelta area. It will also affect the industrial structure and development of the whole region.

After completion of the bridge, it will take only 45 minutes todrive from Hong Kong to Zhuhai, three hours less than the current route by way of Humen in Guangdong Province.

It is estimated that there will be an average of 12,000 vehicles passing across the bridge everyday during the first five years after the completion of the bridge, and the daily flow volume will increase to 60,000 after six years of its completion. And the bridge will generate economic benefits after eight to ten years.

The construction of the bridge will shorten the distance between Hong Kong and the cities on the western side of the Pearl River, such as Zhaoqing, Shunde, Foshan, Jiangmen and Zhuhai. HongKong's pillar industries such as finance, tourism, services and logistics will expand their markets to the western side the Pearl River.

The bridge is estimated to bring Hong Kong economic returns of 20 billion Hong Kong dollars (2.56 billion US dollars). In addition, with the increase of overseas investment to the western side of the Pearl River, it will also provide Hong Kong with about25,000 jobs. The GDP of the six cities on the western side of the Pearl River will increase 89.1 billion yuan (10.73 billion US dollars), thanks to the construction of the bridge.

Economists say the construction of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge will not only create a miracle in the bridge construction history, but also push forward the development of the Pearl River Delta area into an economic center in Southeast Asia.

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