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1. Zhongshan sees bridge as a magnet for investors

2. 24-hour checkpoint to start on January 27

3. Shekou link is best option for SAR: academic

4. Kwai Chung port is deemed ready for bigger cargo ships

1. Zhongshan sees bridge as a magnet for investors
Gary Cheung in Zhongshan, SCMP 27 December 2002

A bridge linking Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau will help cities on the west side of the Pearl River Delta region to attract foreign investors, according to Zhongshan's executive vice-mayor.

In an interview with the South China Morning Post , Lu Guoliang said the proposed bridge linking the Pearl River Delta would drastically cut the travelling time to Hong Kong.

At present it takes between three and four hours for goods vehicles to travel between Hong Kong and Zhongshan via Shenzhen and the Humen Bridge, which crosses the estuary linking Dongguan and Panyu.

Zhongshan, which has a population of 2.36 million, is located on the delta's west coast, north of Zhuhai.

'It would take less than an hour to travel between Hong Kong and Zhongshan via the [proposed] bridge,' Mr Lu said.

He added it would definitely reduce costs for Hong Kong-based companies investing in the western part of the delta.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa revealed during a visit to Beijing early this month that the central government had approved the bridge in principle.

Under proposals being finalised by a government feasibility study team, a Y-shaped bridge will run from Lantau Island to Macau and Zhuhai.

'We hope the bridge will be built as soon as possible,' said Mr Lu. 'But the project requires approval from Guangdong provincial government and a detailed feasibility study is needed.'

According to the SAR government's cross-border travel survey last year, three-quarters of the trips by Hong Kong people were to Shenzhen and Dongguan, in the eastern part of the delta. Eight per cent went to Guangzhou.

Of the container trucks and goods vehicles crossing the border, 86 per cent travel between Hong Kong and Shenzhen or Dongguan.

A recent survey sponsored by the 2022 Foundation - which is backed by a number of large property companies - indicates that there is a 'magic three hours' factor affecting investment decisions among Hong Kong businessmen, which means they tend to invest in areas which are less than three hours from the SAR.

'We have trailed behind cities in the eastern part of the delta in attracting investment from Hong Kong companies because of a lack of a direct road link to Hong Kong,' Mr Lu said.

'A cross-delta link will definitely provide a window of opportunity for foreign capital to invest in Zhongshan.'

Hong Kong is the largest source of foreign investment in Zhongshan, with total investment of US$3 billion (HK$23.39 billion) between 1978 and last year. It accounted for half the total amount of foreign investment to the city in that period.

Zhongshan attracted direct foreign investment of US$643 million last year compared with US$3.6 billion in Shenzhen.

Mr Lu said the number of containers shipping exports from Zhongshan was expected to increase from 560,000 last year to 670,000 this year.

'Over 90 per cent of our containers have been transported to Hong Kong for re-exports because the ports in the western part of the delta are not deep enough,' he said.

2. 24-hour checkpoint to start on January 27
Ravina Shamdasani, SCMP 27 December 2002

Details of the new 24-hour crossing between Hong Kong and Shenzhen emerged yesterday after a meeting of mainland officials on Christmas Day.

The round-the-clock crossings between Lok Ma Chau and Huanggang will begin on January 27, five days before the Lunar New Year, according to Shenzhen officials.

Four passenger channels will be opened and two additional vehicle channels, one for coaches and one for private cars, subject to revision depending on demand, said Cao Xiaoye, a director of Shenzhen's border office.

A shuttle bus will run every 15 minutes between midnight and 2am, and every 30 minutes between 2am and 6.30am.

The details were unveiled after Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen met Beijing officials on Monday to seal deals for a bridge to be built between the Lok Ma Chau and Huanggang border checkpoints and to initiate the 24-hour border crossings.

Facilities at Huanggang border are being renovated to cope with the demand, and more Public Security Bureau officers will be deployed at night to ensure passengers' safety. It is understood the round-the-clock operation will cost the mainland authorities $47 million a year.

A liaison group has been set up between Shenzhen and Hong Kong officials on border-crossing matters. The group is to meet every day between January 29 and February 8 to monitor the initiatives.

Up to six million passengers are expected to cross at all Hong Kong-Shenzhen borders during the Lunar New Year holidays. Fifty more staff are due to be deployed at Lok Ma Chau checkpoint and 154 at Huanggang.

More than 1.38 million people have crossed the border out of Hong Kong and nearly 1.12 million have entered the SAR since Friday at the various checkpoints.

3. Shekou link is best option for SAR: academic
Gary Cheung, SCMP 27 December 2002

A bridge linking Hong Kong and the west bank of the Pearl River Delta, with an additional link to Shenzhen, is the best way to connect the SAR with the national transport network, according to a Guangdong academic responsible for an alternative study.

Zheng Tianxiang - professor in the Centre for Studies of Hong Kong, Macau, and the Pearl River Delta at Zhongshan University - said his proposal recommended a landing at Lan Kok Tsui in Tuen Mun and provided a link to Shekou in Shenzhen. He is a member of a research team in Guangdong which has been commissioned by a Hong Kong-based foundation to devise an alternative proposal to build a bridge linking Hong Kong and the western bank of the delta.

Professor Zheng, an adviser to the Guangdong government, submitted the proposal to the foundation last week. The foundation is expected to submit the report to the SAR government soon.

The government has said privately that an additional link to Shekou would prove to be 'too long and unnecessary', because the Western Corridor linking Shekou and Yuen Long will open in 2005.

Professor Zheng said a link to Shekou could connect the bridge to the Guangdong section of coastal highway running from northern China to Hainan province, which is due to open next year.

'If vehicles running on the coastal highway have to travel to Zhuhai via Western Corridor, they will have to pass through two border checkpoints at Yuen Long and Shekou and take time for customs and passenger clearance.'

He said that the passage of tens of thousands of mainland vehicles would also cause serious air pollution in Hong Kong.

SAR officials have said vehicles using the coastal highway could travel to the western part of the delta via Humen Bridge, which links Dongguan and Panyu.

But Professor Zheng said Humen Bridge, which has a current traffic flow of 47,000 vehicles a day, will reach its capacity of 120,000 within seven years.

'Frankly speaking, some Hong Kong officials are quite self-centred in drafting the bridge proposal.'

He said he was adamant their alternative proposal could best balance the interests of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Zhuhai.

Professor Zheng said their proposal included a four-lane highway and a rail link.

He also dismissed the government's claim that the bridge proposed by the 2022 Foundation would cost about 30 billion yuan (HK$28.27 billion), saying it would cost 20 billion.

Professor Zheng estimated that the earliest Guangdong authorities could endorse the bridge would be late next year or in 2004. He expected a bridge based on their proposal would be completed by 2010.

4. Kwai Chung port is deemed ready for bigger cargo ships
Russell Barling, SCMP 27 December 2002

But official study does not rule out a new and deeper container terminal. After a four-month study, the Marine Department said yesterday that water depths at Kwai Chung can accommodate the next generation of deep-sea container vessels, providing the port is kept at 15.5 metres deep.

The study also recommends that the approach channels to Kwai Chung be maintained at the same depths to meet future requirements up to 2005, with regular reviews of container ship designs and industry developments, giving the port time to upgrade its facilities.

"We made the assessment after talking to the carriers, classification societies [which monitor and set vessel designs] and other international ports to survey their views on the industry's evolution," said Roger Tupper, the department's deputy director.

"The project to dredge the depth of the Kwai Chung basin to 15.5 metres is all but done and we already efficiently accommodate the world's biggest ships."

He said the cost of keeping the water depth would not be prohibitive. "One of the features of Hong Kong is that, once we dredge, the maintenance costs are minimal. It is the capital costs of the initial project which are the hurdle."

Some of the world's largest shipping lines have raised concerns recently that Hong Kong in future may not have sufficient water depth at its main terminals to serve that next generation of container ships.

The biggest container vessels - with a capacity of around 7,500 teu (20-foot equivalent unit) - require a water depth of 14 metres when fully laden. But there are plans for vessels exceeding 12,000 teu, which may need more water depth for safe navigation.

The shippers' concerns have prompted local officials, including Port Development Board chairman Gordon Wu Ying-sheung, to urge the government to consider building an alternative port for larger vessels.

The study found it was unlikely that vessels would need more than 15 metres of water I nthe next five or six years.

But Mr Tupper said the findings did not preclude the building of a new port. "What it appears to indicate is that any terminal, wherever it is built, would need to maintain those depths," he said. "We will continue to update and review the situation."