China’s President Xi Jinping has officially opened the world’s longest sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China Tuesday.

The 55-kilometer crossing, which includes a snaking road bridge and underwater tunnel, links Hong Kong with the southern mainland city of Zhuhai and the enclave of Macau, across the waters of the Pearl River Estuary.

Xi presided over an inauguration ceremony attended by Hong Kong’s and Macau’s city leaders at a new port terminal in Zhuhai.

“I declare the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge officially open,” Xi said in a one-line address, as digital fireworks exploded on a screen behind him at the indoor ceremony, before leaving the stage immediately.

Supporters of the multi-billion-dollar bridge promote it as an engineering marvel that will boost business and cut travel time, but critics say it is one more way to integrate Hong Kong into China.

China’s Vice Premier Han Zheng characterized the bridge as part of the development of the Greater Bay Area — a Beijing-driven project to create an economic hub linking nine southern mainland cities to Hong Kong and Macau.

At the ceremony, he described the strategy as “deployed and driven by Xi Jinping personally.”

Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam said the bridge would help transform Hong Kong from a “connector to a more active participant.”

It is the second major infrastructure project tying Hong Kong to mainland China to launch in a matter of weeks, after the opening of a high-speed rail link last month.

The main section of the new bridge is also considered mainland territory, even though Hong Kong was slated to pay at least half the cost of the project, according to the original blueprint from the city’s government.

Hong Kong cars and drivers travelling over it “must comply with the laws and regulations of the mainland,” the city’s transport department said.

The total price tag is unclear but some estimates run to over 100 billion yuan ($14.4 billion).

(Source: AFP)