Record-breaking cross-sea passage boosts mobility, accessibility in China's Greater Bay Area

A record-breaking mega project connecting Shenzhen and Zhongshan across the sea in south China's Guangdong Province is believed to boost the mobility of people and the accessibility of businesses in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The 24-kilometer-long Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link opened to traffic on Sunday, cutting travel time between the two cities from two hours to less than 30 minutes.

With a total cost of 46 billion yuan or 6 billion U.S. dollars, the highway project took seven years to complete. The sea-crossing passage has two bridges, two man-made islands, and a two-way eight-lane tunnel.

Prior to the official opening at 15:00 on Sunday, vehicles have lined up in front of toll gates in the two cities. Local residents said this newly-opened passage will greatly facilitate their travel between the two places.

"It's very convenient for Shenzhen residents to go to the cities of Zhuhai and Zhongshan," said Hu Tao, a passenger.

"I have a factory in Shenzhen, and I want to see how convenient the link is in case we plan to set up a branch in Zhongshan," said Rao Zulin, another passenger.

The link is considered one of the most challenging engineering projects of its kind in the world. The 6.8-kilometer-long underwater tunnel accounts for half of the project's 10 world records, including the longest two-way eight-lane underwater tube tunnel, the widest underwater steel shell-concrete tube tunnel, and the first underwater expressway interchange. The bridge section has also broken another five world records.

"It's the world's largest span for a fully offshore steel box girder suspension bridge, the world's highest air traffic clearance altitude at 91 meters, and the largest offshore suspension bridge anchor at 344,000 cubic meters. It is also the world's highest wind resistance test speed for a suspension bridge, at 83.7-meters per second, and the world's largest steel bridge deck hot-mix epoxy asphalt paving," said Jin Zhijian, an engineer at the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link Management Center.

Along with the Nansha Bridge and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link is expected to break regional boundaries on the Pearl River.

"Shenzhen Port has a highly developed network of routes covering Europe, America and Southeast Asia. Through the combined port in the Bay Area, it will be more convenient and efficient to send 'Made in Zhongshan' products to all parts of the world. So the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan link will play a key role in enhancing the global competitiveness of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," said An Jian, chief engineer at Shenzhen Urban Transport Planning Center.

The toll for the bridge only charges nine U.S. dollars, cheaper than a meal at McDonald's. The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link is expected to handle more than 80,000 vehicles a day. The prospects for regional business look bright indeed.

Record-breaking cross-sea passage boosts mobility, accessibility in China's Greater Bay Area

The 2024 China-Switzerland Economic Forum, held in Beijing on Monday, convened Chinese and Swiss government officials, Fortune 500 business leaders, and industry experts to foster innovation and collaboration across diverse sectors.

Held biennially in Beijing, this summit represents the largest economic dialogue between China and Switzerland to date, emphasizing the critical need for exchanging ideas and forming new partnerships in today's rapidly evolving global economy.

This year’s forum, themed "Empowerment, Cooperation, and Innovation", addressed pressing global issues including life sciences, sustainable development, advanced engineering, human resources, market access, and regulatory challenges.

Fabienne Rond, associate director of X-PM China, highlighted the transformative impact of executive interim management.

"In the field I'm working in, there is an increase in this business, which is executive interim. So executive interim started in around 2000, and there is a strong development. There is a growth of this activity by about 10 percent every year," Rond explained.

Sophia Slingerland, founder and chairwoman of SHINE Environmental Technology, praised China's effective water management strategies.

"As most people do not know is that, really, our precious resource, most precious resource is water. I really bow my head in front of the Chinese government [for] how they handle and organize the water, because [in] normal life in China, you don't feel that we are running out of water," said Slingerland.

The forum also featured sub-forums and panel discussions focusing on emerging economic trends, opportunities, and challenges in Sino-Swiss relations.

Rudolf Minsch, chief economist at Economiesuisse, emphasized Switzerland's commitment to global markets amidst rising protectionism concerns.

"From Switzerland, the perspective [is that] we should have open markets all around the world. And this is a very serious problem now. Like the Chinese, it's also the specifics, it's an exporting industry, [which] needs to have access to international markets. And we are looking really seriously bothered about the impact from protectionism all around the world, as this is bad for our economies," said Minsch.

Since the implementation of the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement in 2014, bilateral trade volume has surged by 90 percent.

Swiss participants at the forum expressed surprise at the abundance of Swiss products in Chinese supermarkets, anticipating increased business opportunities as bilateral interactions intensify.

2024 China-Switzerland economic forum highlights innovation, collaboration