Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge – a crucial link to prosperity for the PRD

Whether the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge (the bridge) connecting Hong Kong and the western part of Pearl River Delta (PRD) should be built or not has been a dispute in the territory. All the main officials are in favor of building the bridge. The Chief Executive Mr. Tung chee-hwa, for example, indicated in the legislative council that the future of Hong Kong was closely linked with the development of the western part of the PRD. He said, therefore, the government would support the entire infrastructure that was able to strengthen the connection between Hong Kong and the PRD, including the suggestion on building the bridge. In May 2003, the legislative council approved the motion on “Exploring new areas of co-operation between Hong Kong and Guangdong”. Chief Secretary of the SAR, Mr. Donald Tsang said that in these 20 years, Hong Kong and Guangdong province have developed to be a world class inter-dependent economic zone. In next stage, both parties should raise the status of PRD in China. He mentioned that one of the ways was to build the bridge as soon as possible. Though the construction should be under the approval of Guangdong province, Macau and the central government, the support of the SAR is also of paramount importance.

According to the proposal of the chairman of the Hopewell Holdings (HKSE: 0054), Sir Gordon Wu, the length of the bridge is 30 kilometers, starting from ShekO, the western Lantau Island, surmounting the Pearl River main channel and inner Lingdingyang Ocean, passing through the artificial island, leading to Zhuhai and Macao respectively. This bridge links up three places and hence constructs a big PRD economic zone including Hong Kong and Macau:

The bridge would probably develop and strengthen the advantages of the three places in economic aspect, details are as follows:
Present situation

At present, despite Panyu, Shunde, Zhongshan, basically the situation in the PRD is "East rich; West poor". According to the statistics in 2002, gross domestic product (GDP) of the cities located in the eastern PRD like Guangdong and Shenzhen is 300 billion and over 220 billion respectively. (In Renminbi, similarly hereinafter). The gross value output of industry of the two cities is 370 billion and 220 billion dollars respectively. But the GDP of the cities in the western part of the PRD like Zhongshan and Jiangmen is 41.5 billion and 66 billion dollars respectively. In addition, the gross value output of industry is 134 billion and 142 billion dollars respectively. There is a nine- time difference of GDP between the cities in the PRD. “East rich ; West poor” is self-evident!
The relationship between “East rich; West poor” and traffic

After the “open-door policy” and economic reform in 1979, the otherwise poor cities like Shenzhen and Dongguan has developed very well in these 20 years. These cities have attracted countless Hong Kong and foreign companies to enter and station in. One of the reasons why these entrepreneurs choose Shenzhen and Dongguan is the belief of time and spatial concept – "three hours lives circle". In other words, When Hong Kong business people or foreign companies headquartered in Hong Kong do business in the PRD, they always travel to places where the destination is within 3 hours from Hong Kong. The rationale is that business people can depart from and go back to office and factory in Hong Kong within one day. Therefore, cargo can be transported to the port in Hong Kong within 3 hours.

At the moment, the connection between Hong Kong and the western part of the PRD like Zhongshan, Zhuhai and Jiangmen is mainly dependent on the transportation by sea. When it comes to road transportation, in case if someone wants to go to Zhuhai from Hong Kong, vehicles have to depart from Huanggang, and then pass through Hong Kong-Shenzhen-Zhuhai expressway and Huimen Bridge. It spends nearly 3 hours traveling to the destination and the total distance is of 200 kilometers. After the completion of Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, the travel time is only 40 minutes and it saves 2 hours in the whole journey. Thus, it will not only be an important traffic artery in the PRD, but also affect the future economic development of the whole south China region.


Development in the western China

The development of western China can also take advantage of the bridge since a huge hinterland and labor force in that region. According to the expert’s preliminary estimation, along with the development of the western part of Guangdong, as well as the “Development of western China” project, there would be 7.5 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) from the western part of Guangdong and western China in the future. After 18 years, the numbers will rise to 1,400 TEUs due to the growth of foreign trade. If the construction is strategically planned, it is estimated that there will be plenty of containers shipping to the rest of the world through Hong Kong which will increase the cargo volume of the SAR and hence, fully utilize the competitiveness of Hong Kong as being a international logistics hub.

In the western China, land is vast and resource is rich. The poor economic condition and development of this area is due to the lack of connection to other cities in China. The construction of the bridge fills the gap between the PRD and the western China by connecting Guangxi, Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Shaanxi, Qinghai, Gansu and so on with Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau together. Thus, the bridge, with no doubt, is beneficial to further expand the development and integration between the PRD and the western China.

Radiation to ASEAN

After the accession to the WTO, China planned to reach an agreement with ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) on setting up a free trade zone. According to the agreement, the free trade zone will be established in 2010. At that time, China, as well as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Singapore which are the members of ASEAN, will become the members first. Laos, Burma, Cambodia and Vietnam will join in 2015. In the biggest free trade zone in the world, we estimated that there are 1.7 billion of consumers, with total GDP of 2 trillion and total trade volume of 1.2 trillion USD. The bridge not only strengths Hong Kong’s position as a logistics hub for passenger and freight in the PRD and even in ASEAN, but also reinforce the development with the PRD and ASEAN. It is beneficial to the economic development of all the neighboring countries.

Scholar’s point of view

According to a report written by professor Tuan Chuya and Linda Ng of the Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics of the Hong Kong Chinese University, after the completion of the bridge, GDP of the territory can be raised by 20 billion HKD. In addition, 25,000 jobs will be created for Hong Kong people working in China. The research shows that the bridge can shorten the distance as well as the time for transportation between Hong Kong and the western part of the PRD such as Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Shunde, Foshan, Zhuhai, and Zhongshan etc from 14% to 81%. Furthermore, transportation can be reduced by at most 53%. It can increase the competitiveness and attractiveness of those cities in order to compete with the Shenzhen and Dongguang.

Four main economic pillars can benefit from the bridge

The four main economic pillars in Hong Kong – tourism, logistics, finance and producer services sector can reap benefits from the bridge due to expansion of market to the western part of the PRD. Statistics shows that after the completion of the bridge, the GDP can be raised by 1.3 – 1.6% after the completion of the bridge.

Also, we indicated that it will link Hong Kong to the west side of the PRD and hook it up with the ever-expanding network of expressways in China. Hence, developing a transportation network either by bridge or tunnel is helpful to the economic development of the PRD.

Conclusion: The bridge is beneficial to Hong Kong, Macau and the PRD

In conclusion, the construction of the bridge will benefit all citizens, scholars and business people in Hong Kong. In addition to the drive from the central government and the assistance from the provincial and municipal government, we think that the construction of the bridge shows the attitude of the central government for supporting Hong Kong rather than allocation of benefits among all related parties or the technique to conserve the environment. In long run, building the bridge is not only of paramount importance for Hong Kong to become a logistics hub in the southern China, but also enhances its competitiveness of the economy within the region.