GOING THE DISTANCE: The cross-sea cable-stayed bridge spanning the Hangzhou Bay is a world first      Photo by TAN JIN

The driving distance from Shanghai to Ningbo, east China's Zhejiang Province, just got a lot shorter-220 km to be exact. That's because China recently opened the world's longest sea-spanning bridge, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge linking the two cities. In the process it will not only benefit the prosperous Yangtze River Delta, but is also expected to allow cities in southeastern Zhejiang Province to take advantage of the booming economy of Shanghai.

Hangzhou Bay is known for the world's largest tidal bore, as well as the private business clusters along its southern shore that include Ningbo, Wenzhou and Yiwu.

The 36-km-long cable-stayed structure spans the inlet of the East China Sea and cuts the trip between Shanghai and Ningbo from 400 km to 180 km and the travel time from 4 hours to one-and-a-half hours.

Following an inauguration ceremony, the bridge opened to traffic at midnight on May 1.

"The cross-sea bridge, connecting the region on the southern shore of the Hangzhou Bay to Shanghai as the international financial, commercial and shipping center, opens the region further to the outside and promotes cooperation and exchanges between cities in the Yangtze River Delta, " said Zhao Yannian, an official with the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission at the opening ceremony.

Construction of the bridge began in November 2003, costing a total of 11.8 billion yuan ($1.68 billion).

Economic spin-offs

Zhao believes the bridge will generally create a positive influence on the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta as a whole.

The cross-sea bridge that starts at Haiyan County in the city of Jiaxing in north Zhejiang and ends at Cixi in Ningbo City in the south will directly promote the economic and social development of the two cities, and even the development of surrounding cities such as Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Taizhou, Zhoushan and Wenzhou, Zhao said.

The bridge construction was soon followed by construction of development zones on both sides of the bridge. Many enterprises have come to set up workshops and factories at Hangzhou Bay New Zone, and projects include auto parts, mold machinery, telecommunications and smart electrical appliances, said Yu Liangquan, an official with the new zone at the opening ceremony.

According to Yu, Hangzhou Bay New Zone has attracted 247 projects worth 34 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) till now, of which 112 are domestic investments and the rest 135 are foreign investments.

Shanghai is China's largest economic hub as well as an important window to the outside. To turn itself into a modern and international port and achieve high economic growths, Ningbo must be linked to Shanghai and integrated into the Yangtze River Delta area, said Zhao.

Furthermore, the bridge is conducive to energy saving and building a resource-efficient and environmentally friendly society, said Zhao.

"According to a primary estimation, by the end of 2009, a total of 38,000 tons of gas and diesel will be saved," said Zhao. "By 2010, a total of 180,000 tons of fuel will be saved and more than 36,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions be reduced, and by 2015, some 250,000 tons of gas and diesel will be saved and 50,000 tons of emissions be reduced."

The bridge allows Zhejiang to be integrated into the economic belt of Shanghai by cutting the trip between southeastern Zhejiang and Shanghai.

With the transportation convenience, local governments will be encouraged to improve investment environment and enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of the whole Zhejiang Province in order to better attract foreign capital, said Zheng Liming, Deputy Director of the Department of Communication of Zhejiang Province.

Furthermore, by linking these cities on both sides of the inlet, the bridge will promote the urbanization strategy of Zhejiang Province and the formation of a continuous economic belt along the Hangzhou Bay, said Zheng, giving the example of Cixi City and Haiyan County which have already worked out plans to attract talents and investment projects.

A matter of questions

However, Zhu Guofang, an official with Ningbo Municipal Development and Reform Commission, admitted that the project met a lot of oppositions when it was proposed. They questioned not only its technological feasibility, but also the possibility of wasting money.

The project, estimated to cost 14 billion yuan ($2 billion), won fewer supporters than objectors when it was proposed in the 1980s, because of the difficulties in collecting such a large amount of money and the fact that with 14 billion yuan ($2 billion) at that time, the local government could build an expressway along the bay to link more cities than a sea-spanning bridge does, said Zhu.

With an expressway between Ningbo and Shanghai already in place and convenient, objectors didn't think it necessary to build a cross-sea bridge. Besides, they contended a shortened trip would be the last factor an enterprise would consider in deciding investments.

"They care more about investment policies and service consciousness of local officials than transportation expenses saved," said Wang Maoqing, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, to Beijing Review.

Cities in the Yangtze River Delta are economically allied rather than geographically allied, said Wang. Many cities linked by the bridge such as Wenzhou, Ningbo and Shaoxing don't belong to the Yangtze River Delta area in geographic sense. Wang thought it's understandable that these cities were eager to join the alliance, as it will help improve their images, increase economic exchanges between them and boost the local economy.

Investors of the sea-spanning project seem to agree. "The merits of the bridge does not merely lie with transportation costs saved, " Cheng Longhai, Chairman of Zhejiang-based Haitong Food Group Co. Ltd., the third largest investor of the project, told China Business News on March 28. "The bridge will bring opportunities, challenges, as well as changes in the local economic structure."

Chen thought that some companies located far from the bridge might move to the development zones on both sides of the bridge and result in a slow down of economic development of areas away from the bridge.

The bridge brings more opportunities and pressures to Ningbo, said Xu Xiang, General Manager of Ningbo Air Logistics Development Co. Ltd., to China Business News. "Investors will not be attracted only by low transportation costs, and Ningbo has to improve its comprehensive competitiveness including services provided by the local administration."

Construction of the sea-spanning bridge has changed the economic structure in the Yangtze River Delta and is an important move to the transportation integration in this region, but Ningbo has to implement concrete measures to promote the local economy being integrated into Shanghai, Fu Xiao, Director of the Policy Research Office of the Beilun District in Ningbo, told China Business News.