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HONG KONG (Reuters) – Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday inaugurated one of the longest bridges in the world, during a visit to southern China considered by some as an opportunity for Beijing to reaffirm its commitment to economic liberalization.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge consists of bridges and roads of nearly 35 km (22 miles) and a tunnel of 6.7 km (4 miles). It has been dubbed the longest "sea bridge crossing the sea" in the world.
It will connect Hong Kong's financial center with the relatively less developed western parts of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong Province, as well as the former Portuguese colony and Macau gaming center.
Xi did not say anything during the inauguration of the bridge Tuesday morning, if it is not to declare it officially open to a fireworks screened on a screen behind him.
The Hong Kong authorities have defended the price of 120 billion Hong Kong Bridge, saying it would consolidate Hong Kong's position as a regional hub of aviation and logistics.
Xi's visit to the southern Guangdong economic capital remained secret, with the official media not mentioning his itinerary very much before going to the bridge's opening.
Some observers believe that Xi's visit to the south of the country is highly symbolic and marks the 40th anniversary of the beginning of reforms in China, when the country began to move from a planned economy to a market economy with "characteristics Chinese ".
Deputy Prime Minister Han Zheng said the bridge would help guide China's strategic plan to create an "enlarged region" around the Pearl River Delta, inspired by other global economic dynamos like San Francisco Bay and Tokyo Bay.
"The bridge stimulates interaction and trade between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, facilitates the development of the Greater Bay Area and enhances the overall competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta," said Mr. Han.
Some critics, however, regard the bridge as a white elephant, which is part of China's multiple efforts to exert greater control over Hong Kong, which returned from British rule to Chinese rule in 1997 when that the city had promised to preserve the high degree of autonomy of the city. and the individual freedoms denied in Mainland China.
The bridge was first proposed in the late 1980s, but the British colonial government of Hong Kong opposed it at the time.
Graphic illustrating the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge: http://tmsnrt.rs/2pZ0YNU
The opening of the bridge comes at a difficult time for China in the face of the pressure of a trade war with the United States, the volatility of financial markets, public debt and the slowdown in the economy.
Xi, who is preparing for his second five-year term, has also been criticized for his approach to state-centric and stable economic policy, rather than proactively promoting market liberalization.
Xi said last month, however, that China was still determined to reform and wanted to work with all parties to build an open global economy.
He said Sunday that the ruling Communist Party would still support the development of private enterprises and that any act aimed at weakening the private economy was a mistake, the Xinhua official news agency said.
Some Hong Kong media have described Xi's trip, his second in Guangdong since taking office in 2012, as a "tour of the south", echoing a well-publicized visit by former Supreme Leader Deng Xiaoping in the south. special economic zones of the south.
Deng's visit reaffirmed China's commitment to reform after the international condemnation that followed the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 in Beijing.
A senior Western diplomat said that the tour in the south of Xi was an opportunity for him to say something important about economic and market reforms and to reaffirm Deng's legacy, noting that Xi n & rsquo; Had posted "only very little evidence of this" in recent years.
(Report by James Pomfret, Holly Chik and Ben Blanchard, written by James Pomfret, edited by Robert Birsel)
