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Chinese President Xi Jinping attended on Monday the opening ceremony in Zhuhai, where the bridge begins and connects China to the two semi-economic regions of Hong Kong and Macao. The construction project cost $ 20 billion.
It includes an underwater tunnel that allows ships to cross the Perleelva Delta while reducing travel time from several hours to 30 minutes in a region of southern China that is of major economic importance to China.
The area covers 56,500 square kilometers and includes eleven cities, including Hong Kong and Macao, with about 68 million inhabitants.
Two years late
China hopes the bridge will connect the region to make a decisive contribution to economic growth. It should originally be opened in 2016, but repeated delays have moved the opening until the autumn of 2018. On Wednesday, the bridge opens to heavily regulated traffic. subject to a quota system with a driving license.
The bridge is of major importance for the Xis administration in that it creates a physical link between the continent and Hong Kong, which was transferred from British control to Chinese control in 1997, assuming that it maintains its own legal system and economic for 50 years.
The Xis administration rejected all requests for political release in Hong Kong, raising fears that Chinese leaders will weaken human rights in Hong Kong before the end of the "one country, two systems" agreement. 2047.
A political symbol
The opening of the bridge, considered a major art of engineering, takes place just one month after the opening of a new high-speed line linking Hong Kong to the mainland. The railway line also significantly reduced travel time, but also raised concerns about Beijing's growing influence, as Chinese law applies to parts of stretch stations in Hong Kong.
– The bridge is not very necessary, because Hong Kong is already connected to the Chinese mainland in all ways, by land, air and sea. But they still need it as a symbol or political icon to remind Hong Kong residents that they are related to the motherland by this very big bridge. It's almost like an umbilical cord, "said Democratic politician Claudia Ho.
Animation: this is the longest bridge in Norway
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