Yesterday, the Huangmaohai sea crossing was opened to traffic, an infrastructure that represents the ideal extension of the majestic bridge that already connects Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau. A new step forward in the formation of an immense metropolitan area of 70 million inhabitants that China wants to turn into its economic engine on a par with Tokyo and New York.
Macau (/Agencies) – The development of the Greater Bay Area, the large basin of the Pearl River Delta, with which Beijing aims to increasingly convert the area that includes the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and the large southern metropolises such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In fact, yesterday the Huangmaohai sea crossing was opened to traffic, an infrastructure that will facilitate connections between two of the eleven cities included in the Greater Bay Area: Zhuhai and Jiangmen.
The new crossing is much more than a simple bridge: it is an authentic 31-kilometer highway between the part suspended over the sea and the sections on dry land. It is the third most important infrastructure, along with the majestic Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HKZMB) – 55 kilometers long between its suspended viaducts and the underwater tunnel – and the connection between Shenzhen and Zhongshan.
Completing the route of the HKZMB to the west (which opened in 2018), it is also proposed to bring the western area of Guangdong closer to the eastern areas of the Pearl River Delta. The new route, in effect, halves the travel time between Jiangmen and Zhuhai, going from more than an hour to about 30 minutes, while the travel time between Jiangmen and Hong Kong is reduced to about 90 minutes. Construction of the new bridge began on June 6, 2020 and is designed according to the structure of a standard two-way highway with six lanes, with a planned average speed of 100 kilometers per hour.
The debut of the Huangmaohai sea crossing follows last June’s opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan link, which reduced travel times between the two cities from at least two hours to just 25 minutes. Together, the three steps – accompanied by rules allowing vehicles from Hong Kong and Macau to enter the mainland – are part of a plan to boost connectivity within the Bay Area.
Made up of around 70 million people, the Greater Bay Area is an initiative by Beijing to integrate Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province into an economic engine capable of rivaling similar regions in Tokyo, New York or San Francisco. . In 2023, the GDP of the GBA will exceed 1.4 billion yuan. This important area with less than 0.6% of the national territory and 6% of the total population produced 11% of China’s GDP. In Xi Jinping’s plans, it is already the essential engine of the country’s development and aspires to increasingly become a global cluster.
The Chinese president is now expected to visit Macau on December 20 for celebrations marking the 25th anniversary of the former Portuguese colony’s return to China. For him it will be a new opportunity to celebrate the prospects of the Greater Bay Area and the increasingly close connections between the special autonomous regions (Hong Kong and Macao) and the southern province of Guangdong.
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