China speeding up plans for bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau, Zhuhai

China wants to speed up the planning for a super bridge linking Hong Kong, Macau and the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai, and construction on the US$3.8 billion (euro2.9 billion) project could begin by the end of 2005. 'The planning of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge has entered another stage. The central government wants us to speed this up,' Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works Sarah Liao Sau-tung told reporters Sunday. 'The goal is to start construction either by the end of this year or early next year,' she said. The 29-kilometer-long (18-mile-long) bridge could be completed by 2010, Liao added. Liao said the bridge will change the lopsided economic productivity of the east and west banks of the Pearl River by drawing more investors and tourists to the west bank, where Zhuhai and Macau are located.