The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge: A 15-mile, $6.7B project symbolizing China's ambitions—and its challenges | Dinogo

In a country known for its massive, record-setting infrastructure, this project is still drawing plenty of attention.

Amid much fanfare from state media, the bridge's builders recently set a new world record by paving more than 243,200 square feet (22,600 square meters) of asphalt in a single day—the equivalent of over 50 basketball courts.

However, as surprising as it may seem, this isn’t the world’s longest sea bridge. That title belongs to its 34-mile-long neighbor, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, located just 20 miles away.

For some analysts, the construction of these colossal bridges in such close proximity highlights both China’s rising global ambitions and the challenges it faces in bringing them to fruition.

Like its counterpart in Hong Kong, when the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge opens next year after eight years of construction, it will be a crucial element of China’s vision to transform the Greater Bay Area—one of the world’s largest and most populous urban regions—into an economic and technological powerhouse on par with cities like San Francisco, New York, or Tokyo.

This ambition is as colossal as the bridges themselves. The Greater Bay Area is home to 68 million people, spans 21,800 square miles, and includes 11 cities—Hong Kong, Macao, and nine others, including Zhongshan and Shenzhen. Shenzhen alone boasts a population of over 12 million, along with major multibillion-dollar firms like drone maker DJI and social media giant Tencent, earning it the nickname 'China’s Silicon Valley.'

Beijing envisions the bridges as a way to physically and conceptually unite the cities in this vast, diverse region. Travel times between Zhongshan and Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport, the third busiest in mainland China with over 37 million passengers in 2019, are expected to shrink from two hours to just 20 minutes.

However, many observers believe the bridges also serve a deeper, more political purpose: merging historically distinct regions—Hong Kong, a former British colony, and Macao, a former Portuguese one—into a unified Chinese identity. Some critics argue that the scale of this project overshadows even the grandeur of the bridges themselves.

A Bold Statement

Austin Strange, an expert on Chinese foreign policy at the University of Hong Kong, commented that the new bridge will undoubtedly create 'real economic value' by dramatically reducing commute times between cities and easing traffic congestion.

He also pointed to another layer, drawing a comparison to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, where Beijing is investing billions in infrastructure projects such as ports and roads in countries worldwide.

This initiative is largely seen as a way for China to enhance its economic and political influence globally, with critics arguing that it enables China to assert control over smaller nations by offering loans they are unlikely to repay.

While the bridges aren’t tied to such debt concerns, being built entirely within China, experts argue that the enormity of the project still sends a powerful message.

'The Chinese government is clearly positioning the bridge as a world-class achievement,' said Strange. 'Infrastructure is central to China’s global development reputation and is an essential part of its approach to both domestic and international growth.'

However, the true global impact of the bridge will depend not just on its size but also on how well it succeeds and how popular it becomes with travelers in the long run.

If it doesn’t succeed, it risks falling into the same criticism as some of the more extravagant Belt and Road projects—being nothing more than a costly white elephant.

According to finance professor He Zhiguo from the University of Chicago, much like the bridges that connect San Francisco's Bay Area, the new mega-project in China is expected to significantly reduce travel times.

However, He believes that only the residents of Zhongshan are likely to benefit, as the city—neither a business nor tourist hub—offers little incentive for visitors from other regions.

He also cautioned that estimates regarding the impact on travel time and costs should be viewed skeptically, as such projects often experience budget overruns. 'That’s my concern, but without more details, I don’t think it’s a terrible idea,' he remarked.

Bridges Across Troubled Waters

While Beijing’s vision for the Greater Bay Area is undoubtedly ambitious, it has already encountered numerous obstacles along the way.

Originally proposed in 2009, experts believe the development has struggled due to the diverse nature of the cities involved and the various barriers that separate them.

The region spans three borders: the Chinese mainland and the former colonies of Hong Kong and Macao, both of which are now semi-autonomous Special Administrative Regions. Each maintains distinct immigration policies, legal systems, and even separate currencies.

Moreover, residents possess three different passports and identity cards, speaking two distinct varieties of Chinese – Cantonese and Mandarin.

They even drive on opposite sides of the road, creating numerous barriers for anyone hoping for an easy, uninterrupted journey between the regions.

This bridge links the mainland Chinese city of Zhuhai with the gambling hub of Macao and the bustling financial powerhouse of Hong Kong.

Even a year after its opening in 2019, the bridge struggled to attract traffic, averaging only 4,000 trips per day, according to Hong Kong's Transport Department. By comparison, the Channel Tunnel, which connects France and Britain, saw over 8,000 vehicles daily in March of the same year, based on its reported figures.

Experts attribute the slow uptake to the need for separate visas and vehicle registrations to travel between the three locations, compounded by the fact that high-speed ferries already operate between the cities daily, departing from central terminals that are often more convenient than the remote bridge entry points.

Traffic on the Hong Kong bridge dropped to just a few hundred vehicles per day during the Covid-19 pandemic when the three regions closed their borders as part of a strict 'zero-Covid' strategy. However, traffic has since rebounded. During this month's Labor Day holiday, state media reported that as many as 9,000 vehicles crossed daily.

The debate surrounding the bridges extends beyond mere financial concerns.

For some, the bridges represent a political move. Critics argue that the Hong Kong bridge is a tool for enforcing assimilation and tightening control over the city, which was rocked by pro-democracy protests in both 2014 and 2019.

Don't worry, 'traffic jams are inevitable,'

That said, the bridges also have their supporters.

Xiao Geng, director of the Institute of Policy and Practice at the Shenzhen campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, believes the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge will help to bridge the gap between the two regions.

‘The western part of the coast lags behind the eastern side in terms of development, and there’s also a significant disparity in property prices,’ Xiao explained.

He also noted that this new bridge differs from its predecessor, which struggled due to the 'fundamentally different' systems in the three regions, making travel more expensive and less appealing.

The new bridge will link two mainland Chinese cities that already operate under the same set of regulations, he noted.

‘Don't worry, there will definitely be traffic jams,’ he joked.