Chinese leader Xi Jinping opened one of the world's longest bridges on Tuesday (October 23), during a tour to southern China that is seen by some as an opportunity for Beijing to reaffirm its commitment to economic liberalization.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge is made up of nearly 35-km (22-mile) bridge and road sections and a 6.7 km (4-mile) tunnel, and has been dubbed the longest “bridge-cum-tunnel sea crossing” in the world. It will link the financial hub of Hong Kong to the relatively less developed western reaches of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, as well as the former Portuguese colony and gambling hub of Macau.
Xi said nothing during the inauguration of the bridge on Tuesday morning other than to declare it officially open to a burst of fireworks projected onto a screen behind him. Vice premier Han Zheng said the bridge would help drive China's strategic blueprint for a “Greater Bay Area” around the Pearl River Delta modelled on other global economic dynamos like San Francisco Bay and Tokyo Bay.
The bridge's opening comes at a challenging time for China as it faces pressure from a trade war with the United States, volatile financial markets, mounting public debt and a slowing economy.