China opens the world's longest cross-sea bridge in Hangzhou Bay, linking
two of the country's booming hubs.

 HANGZHOU BAY, CHINA (MAY 1, 2008) CCTV -

China prepared to open the world's longest cross-sea bridge on
Thursday (May 1), linking the financial and commercial hub of Shanghai with
the booming port and industrial city of Ningbo, according to state broadcaster
CCTV.
    The 11.8 billion yuan (1.7 billion U.S. dollars) cable-stayed
structure, spanning Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang Province south of Shanghai, will
be open to traffic on a trial basis at midnight following an inauguration
ceremony on Thursday afternoon, said Chinese government news agency
Xinhua.
    The 36 km (22.4 miles) span will shorten travel time between Shanghai
and Ningbo, two key port cities in China's prosperous Yangtze River Delta, to
two-and-a-half hours from four.
    China, the world's fourth-largest economy, is spending heavily on
infrastructure to maintain its double-digit rates of economic growth. It began
construction on the bridge in November 2003.