Construction of a mega-bridge linking Hong Kong with Zhuhai and Macao is set to begin by the end of this year to form closer social and economic ties from the western Pearl River Delta areas to the two special administrative regions.

The 30-kilometer-long structure, which will cost 4 billion U.S. dollars, will be completed in about five years, Thursday's China Daily reported.

It said a complete proposal for the bridge was submitted to the central government for approval early last December.

The bridge will shorten the distance from Hong Kong to Macao and Zhuhai to 30 kilometers, and reduce the travel time to less than 30 minutes. A car ride from Zhuhai or Macao to Hong Kong now takes at least six hours, passing by Guangzhou.

The western Pearl River Delta region, which includes six cities in Guangdong Province, has seen lower economic development over the last two decades, compared with the eastern area, which includes Shenzhen and Dongguan.

Zhuhai posted only 54.6 billion yuan (6.7 billion U.S. dollars) of GDP in 2004, while Shenzhen topped 342.3 billion yuan (42.2 billion U.S. dollars) in the same year.

Geologically, the western part of the delta region is further away from Hong Kong, but the area enjoys advantages in terms of land resources and labour force, which favors investors from Hong Kong and Macao.

Source: Xinhua