Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor
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The Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor, also known for the main component Shenzhen Bay Bridge, is a cross-border highway between
Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...
,
Guangdong Province Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
and
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
. The highway bridge is a dual three-lane
controlled-access highway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...
. It connects Ngau Hom Shek (), Hong Kong, to
Dongjiaotou Dongjiaotou () is a largely residential and former industrial area between Shekou and Houhai, Nanshan, Shenzhen, China. See also * Dongjiaotou station, the Shenzhen Metro station serving the area. *Shenzhen Bay Control Point Shenzhen (; ; ...
, which is administratively located in Nanshan District of Shenzhen. The corridor also had other components, a
border checkpoint A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...
Shenzhen Bay Port Shenzhen Bay Port () is a juxtaposed border crossing and a port of entry and exit between mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, located geographically in Dongjiaotou, Shekou, which lies on the southwestern corner of ...
, built on
reclaimed land Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lak ...
, as well as roads that connect the corridor to the existing road network of Shenzhen. The highway bridge is part of Route 10 of the Hong Kong trunk road numbering system, the only other existing part being the
Kong Sham Western Highway Kong Sham Western Highway, formerly known as the Deep Bay Link is a highway in Hong Kong. It is long and has three lanes in each direction. Its northern end is at Ngau Hom Shek, near Deep Bay, and its southern end is at Lam Tei, in Tuen Mun Dis ...
, formerly known as Deep Bay Link. The Shenzhen section of the Corridor, was also included as the extension of the S3 since circa 2010.


History and operation

Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor is a cross border transport infrastructure which connects Hong Kong and Shenzhen. It was opened on 1 July 2007, the 10th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong as a
special administrative region of China The special administrative regions (SAR) of the People's Republic of China are one of the provincial-level administrative divisions of the People's Republic of China directly under the control of its Central People's Government (State Co ...
. According to the ''
People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' () is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The newspaper provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP. In addition to its main Chinese-language ...
'' as well as the
China News Service China News Service (CNS; ) is the second largest state news agency in China, after Xinhua News Agency. China News Service was formerly run by the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, which was absorbed into the United Front Work Department of the Ch ...
, the corridor consists of three parts: a highway bridge which span from Hong Kong and across the boundary of Hong Kong and Shenzhen,
Shenzhen Bay Port Shenzhen Bay Port () is a juxtaposed border crossing and a port of entry and exit between mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, located geographically in Dongjiaotou, Shekou, which lies on the southwestern corner of ...
as a
border checkpoint A border checkpoint is a location on an international border where travelers or goods are inspected and allowed (or denied) passage through. Authorization often is required to enter a country through its borders. Access-controlled borders ofte ...
, which entirely inside the administrative boundary of Shenzhen, and roads that connected the corridor to the road network, the S3 However, departments and agencies of Hong Kong Government defined the bridge and port as separate items, and called the bridge as Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor or Shenzhen Bay Bridge. Shenzhen Bay Bridge was the gazetted name of the bridge. The construction project was included in the Shenzhen municipal government's 10th Five Year Plan, which was announced in 2001. According to Shenzhen, the infrastructure was said to be planned since 1996. The cross border highway was also included in a feasibility study of the Hong Kong Government. The study was completed in 2001, and proposed to built the Hong Kong–Shenzhen Western Corridor and Deep Bay Link, as the fourth land boundary crossing. The other three land boundary crossings were
Lok Ma Chau Lok Ma Chau or Lokmachau is an area in Hong Kong's New Territories. It is the site of a major pedestrian (linked directly to the Hong Kong rapid transit network) and road border crossing point between Hong Kong and mainland China. Administra ...
,
Man Kam To Man Kam To or Mankamto (; Hong Kong Hakka: Vun2 Gim3 Tu4) is an area in the North District, New Territories, Hong Kong near the border with Shenzhen in mainland China. Administration For electoral purposes, Man Kam To is part of the Sha Ta cons ...
and
Sha Tau Kok Sha Tau Kok is a closed city, closed town in Hong Kong. The last remaining major settlement in the Frontier Closed Area, it is Hong Kong's northernmost town. Geography The small rural village of Sha Tau Kok is located on the northern sh ...
respectively. In December 2002, the
State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...
(the Central Government) approved the plan of the route, which was submitted by Shenzhen. On 8 March 2002, the Finance Committee (FC) of the
Hong Kong Legislative Council The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under People's Republic of China, China's "one country, two systems" constitutional arrange ...
approved the funding of the design and site investigation for the Hong Kong section of the Corridor; the funding of the construction works of the Hong Kong section, which was estimated for HK$3.2 billion in money-of-the-day (MOD) price, was approved along with the funding of the Deep Day Link on 21 February 2003. The constriction cost of the latter was estimated for HK$4.6 billion in MOD price. The funding of the Hong Kong Port Area, which was estimated for HK$2.5 billion in MOD prices, was approved by the FC on 18 July 2003. The Shenzhen sections was mainly funded by the Shenzhen municipal government, despite the central government also endorsed
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0.2 billion. Construction of the project including the land reclamation, began on 28 August 2003 in Shenzhen, while the construction of the Shenzhen Bay Port building began in 2004. The
main contractor A general contractor, main contractor or prime contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the course of ...
of the construction of the Hong Kong section of the highway bridge, was a joint venture of Gammon,
Skanska Skanska AB () is a multinational construction and development company based in Sweden. Skanska is the fifth-largest construction company in the world according to ''Construction Global'' magazine. Notable Skanska projects include renovation of t ...
and China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC). Gammon Construction, at that time known as Gammon–Skanska Limited (Skanska was a co-owner of Gammon at that time), also won the contract to build the related infrastructure, the northern section of
Kong Sham Western Highway Kong Sham Western Highway, formerly known as the Deep Bay Link is a highway in Hong Kong. It is long and has three lanes in each direction. Its northern end is at Ngau Hom Shek, near Deep Bay, and its southern end is at Lam Tei, in Tuen Mun Dis ...
, which known at that time as Deep Bay Link. The southern section would be built by another venture led by China State Construction. Hong Kong government also entrusted Shenzhen–Hong Kong Western Corridor Project Office to build the facilities of the Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area in 2004. Shenzhen Bay Port was entirely within the boundary of Shenzhen. In 2001, Hong Kong Government agreed in principle of co-locating the boundary crossing facilities, thus the birth of Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area. Shenzhen–Hong Kong Western Corridor Project Office, a government agency, was responsible to build all the facilities within the Shenzhen boundary. Some of the construction was sub-contracted to other firms, such as
Hsin Chong Hsin Chong Group Holdings Limited (新昌營造集團有限公司; ) or simply Hsin Chong (新昌) was a major construction company in Hong Kong. History It was established in 1939 in Hong Kong as Hsin Chong & Company by Godfrey Yeh Kan-Nee. Yeh ...
–Aster was responsible for the electrical and mechanical engineering of the Passenger Terminal Building (Hong Kong Side) of the Hong Kong Port Area. However, a scandal was exposed in 2015, which the facilities built by Shenzhen–Hong Kong Western Corridor Project Office (excluding Hong Kong Port Area) were over-budgeted from the original estimate
RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
2.4 billion, some items were purchased without open tender, as well as embezzle of public funds. Other controversies were exposed in 2005 on the approval of the project, which Shenzhen municipal government excluded the connection road of the corridor, as well as living quarter of the Shenzhen Port Area, from the submission to the State Council, despite departments of the government included them in the advertisements. As well as around the legitimacy of the approval in the sense of environmental protection law. According to the news report, the connection roads were not constructed by Shenzhen–Hong Kong Western Corridor Project Office, and the legal advisor of the municipal government denied any wrongdoing of the project in an interview. The bridge was constructed separately between Hong Kong and Shenzhen governments. It use the maritime border of the two cities as the point of separation. Upon its opening, along with the
Shenzhen Bay Port Hong Kong Port Area Shenzhen Bay Port () is a juxtaposed border crossing and a port of entry and exit between mainland China and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, located geographically in Dongjiaotou, Shekou, which lies on the southwestern corner of t ...
, were leased to Hong Kong and made under Hong Kong's jurisdiction for an initial period until 30 June 2047. Hong Kong also responsible to the maintenance and day to day operation of the Shenzhen section of the bridge. As such, Hong Kong laws, including traffic laws, instead of the laws of Mainland China, apply on the whole bridge and within the Hong Kong Port Area. The , Hong Kong section was completed in 2005. The corridor was scheduled for completion in 2006 but owing to the delay in the construction of the Shenzhen section , it was officially opened on 1 July 2007 by then-President and Communist Party general secretary
Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese politician who served as the 16–17th general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the 6th president of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from 2003 to 2013, an ...
of China and the then-
Chief Executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...
Donald Tsang Sir Donald Tsang Yam-kuen (; born 7 October 1944) is a former Hong Kong civil servant who served as the second Chief Executive of Hong Kong from 2005 to 2012. Tsang joined the colonial civil service as an Executive Officer in 1967, occupyi ...
. It can handle 58,600 vehicles and 60,000 cross-boundary tourists per day. The border crossing facilities in Dongjiaotou are separately managed by the Customs and Excise Department and
Immigration Department The Immigration Department of the Government of Hong Kong is responsible for immigration control of Hong Kong. After the People's Republic of China assumed sovereignty of the territory in July 1997, Hong Kong's immigration system remained l ...
of Hong Kong, and the China Customs.


Mainland and Hong Kong Immigration co-location

The Hong Kong Government has to pay rent to Shenzhen government for the use of the port area, amounting to
RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
6 million per year. The rental agreement lasts until 30 June 2047.


Transport

Four Hong Kong public bus routes run on this corridor. They are operated by the
New Lantao Bus The New Lantao Bus Company (1973) Limited, commonly known as New Lantao Bus or NLB, is a franchised bus company operating in Hong Kong. It mainly operates bus routes on Lantau Island. History NLB was formed in 1973 through the merger of three b ...
Company and Citybus. * B2 to and from
Yuen Long Yuen Long is a town in the western New Territories, Hong Kong. To its west lie Hung Shui Kiu (), Tin Shui Wai, Lau Fau Shan and Ha Tsuen, to the south Shap Pat Heung and Tai Tong, to the east Au Tau and Kam Tin (), and to the north Nam Sang W ...
* B2P to and from
Tin Shui Wai Tin Shui Wai New Town is a satellite town in the northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong. Originally a ' fish pond area, it was developed in the 1980s as the second new town in Yuen Long District and the eighth in Hong Kong. It is due northw ...
* B3 and B3A to and from various locations in
Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...
* B3X to and from
Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more re ...
(express service) A green
public light bus The public light bus or minibus is a public transport service in Hong Kong. It uses minibuses to serve areas that standard Hong Kong bus lines cannot reach efficiently. The vehicles are colloquially known by the code-switch ' (Van Jái) lite ...
route, 618, also operates from
Tin Shui Wai Tin Shui Wai New Town is a satellite town in the northwestern New Territories of Hong Kong. Originally a ' fish pond area, it was developed in the 1980s as the second new town in Yuen Long District and the eighth in Hong Kong. It is due northw ...
new town. Hong Kong taxis,
minibus A minibus, microbus, minicoach, or commuter (in Zimbabwe) is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, th ...
es and cross-border buses are allowed access to the corridor; private vehicles must have the correct permit to use the corridor.


See also

*
Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Bridge (HZMB) is a bridge–tunnel system consisting of a series of three cable-stayed bridges, an undersea tunnel, and four artificial islands. It is both the longest sea crossing and the longest open-sea fixe ...
, another bridge that connect Hong Kong to Mainland China, as well as Macau for the first time *
West Kowloon station West Kowloon station (abbreviated WEK), also known as Hong Kong West Kowloon, is the southern terminus of and the only station on the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen–Hong Kong Express Rail Link (HSR). The station con ...
, another co-location of immigrations and customs of Hong Kong and Mainland China governments


Footnotes


References

* *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hong Kong-Shenzhen Western Corridor Bridges completed in 2007 Cable-stayed bridges in Hong Kong Cable-stayed bridges in China Expressways in Hong Kong Pearl River Delta Route 10 (Hong Kong) Transport in Guangdong