The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (HZMB) Advance Work Co-ordination Group has reached a consensus on the bridge's financing and way forward at a meeting in Guangzhou on February 28.
     The three sides agreed that the three Governments would be responsible for the construction and operation of the boundary crossing facilities and the connecting roads to the bridge within their own territory. The connecting roads are about 12.6 km on the Hong Kong side and 13.9 km on the Mainland side.
     Under the proposed construction package, the main body of the bridge will be about 29.6 km. To the west, it lands on the artificial island off Gongbei, and to the east, it lands on the eastern artificial island for the tunnel section just west of the Guangdong boundary. It will be built according to the six-lane expressway standard with vehicle speed of 100 km per hour. To ensure unimpeded sea traffic of the main navigation channels towards the Guangzhou and Shenzhen ports, there will be a tunnel linking up the two artificial islands that provide bridge/tunnel switching facilities.
     The three sides have also agreed to share the amount of the subsidy by adhering to the principle of equalisation of cost-to-benefit ratios. The equation has taken into account the economic benefits to each of the three sides, such as the savings in transport costs and time, as well as the costs of each side in building their connecting roads and their share of subsidy for the main body of the bridge.
     Private investment will be invited for the construction of the main body of the bridge. The three governments will share the funding gap according to the above principle. The actual amount of the subsidy will be subject to the tendering result.