The Zhuhai land port on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge in south China has handled over 100 million inbound and outbound passenger trips as of Tuesday, since the mega project opened to traffic in October 2018.
The 55-kilometer bridge linking Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and the city of Zhuhai, all in south China, is the world's longest bridge-and-tunnel sea crossing. It shortens the driving time from Hong Kong to Zhuhai and Macao from three hours to about 45 minutes.
According to the bridge's border inspection station, the mega bridge handled a record high of 31.34 million passenger trips in 2025, which is over 140 percent higher than that in 2019.
"For seven years, this bridge has been my child's road to school. From a little first grader to a junior high student now, my child travels between Hong Kong and Zhuhai every day and can make it home for dinner after school," said Mrs. Liu, a Hong Kong resident.
"I'm traveling from Zhuhai to our company's headquarters in Hong Kong for a business trip. This trip was arranged at the last minute yesterday, but this bridge enables me to go at any time. It's very convenient," said Ms. Pan, a traveler.
The bridge also handled 569,000 passenger trips by foreign nationals in 2025, up 28.7 percent year on year.
Behind the surge in passenger flow are tech-enabled services and optimized mechanisms at the border inspection station.
"The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge border inspection station has kept improving the entry-exit environment, with artificial intelligence algorithms, big data systems, mobile inspection terminals and other high-tech hardware and software facilities introduced. We have launched tech-enabled and personalized services such as face recognition fast passage through smart channels and online filling of foreigners' entry cards, constantly improving travelers' clearance experience," said Zhang Lei, deputy director of the border inspection station.
Thanks to the easy accessibility brought by the operation of the bridge, a one-hour life circle is taking shape at an accelerated pace in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster. Meanwhile, its convenient and efficient services are facilitating integrated economic development in the region.
Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge handles over 100 mln passenger trips since opening in 2018
China's two major power grid operators -- the State Grid Corporation of China (State Grid) and China Southern Power Grid (CSG) -- reported a surge in investment in the first quarter of 2026, underscoring efforts to strengthen infrastructure construction and support high-quality socioeconomic development in China.
The State Grid said it completed fixed-asset investment worth 129 billion yuan (about 18.77 billion U.S. dollars) in the first three months of this year, up 37 percent the corresponding period of the previous year. The spending has driven more than 250 billion yuan (36 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across the wider industrial chain.
Key projects such as the Panxi ultra-high-voltage (UHV) alternating current (AC) line and the Anhui-Hubei back-to-back direct current (DC) project have seen ground broken for their construction, while several west-to-east power transmission projects have been upgraded.
Investment in connecting renewable energy generation to the grid was reported to have exceeded 10 billion yuan (1.45 billion U.S. dollars) from January to March, a year-on-year rise of more than 50 percent.
The CSG also reported robust growth in investment in the three-month period, with fixed-asset investment reaching 38.45 billion yuan (5.58 billion U.S. dollars), up about 50 percent from a year earlier.
Among its achievements, the company completed and commissioned 80 key projects, including the 220 kV cross-sea power grid interconnection project, which was officially put into operation on March 20. The project ended years of grid isolation on the Weizhou Island in south China by linking it to the main power system of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
The construction of 17 other major energy projects, including one linking the power grid of the Xizang Autonomous Region in southwest China with that of Guangdong Province in south China, is advancing rapidly. These projects are expected to bolster regional industries, the maritime economy, digital collaboration and the transition to green energy.
"By accelerating major project construction, investment during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) is expected to approach 1 trillion yuan (145 billion U.S. dollars), driving a further 2 trillion yuan (290 billion U.S. dollars) of investment across upstream and downstream industries," said Dong Yanle, deputy general manager of the Engineering Construction Department under the China Southern Power Grid.
China ramps up power grid investment in January-March to boost growth
