The Lingding Ocean is crisscrossed with bridges and tunnels, where the completion of each new cross-river passage represents a crucial step towards enhanced connectivity within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and a significant opportunity to reshape the regional economic landscape.
The opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link in 2024 immediately gained immense popularity, establishing itself as a premier transportation artery linking the eastern and western shores of the Pearl River Estuary. By December 31, 2025, the link had recorded over 48.85 million vehicle trips, averaging 89,000 daily. Its traffic volume accounted for approximately 24% of the total average daily cross-river traffic in the Pearl River Estuary during the same period, showing a consistent upward trend: the average was 82,000 vehicles per day in the second half of 2024, rising to 92,400 vehicles per day in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%.
This success has fueled high expectations from both the market and the public for the proposed Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link project.
Looking back to 1980, both Shenzhen and Zhuhai were designated as China's first Special Economic Zones. For over forty years, these "twin stars" on either side of the Lingding Ocean have shone brightly, each forging its own distinctive development path, yet a direct cross-sea connection has remained elusive.
Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) issued a formal response to a proposal submitted by Xie Jian, a National People's Congress deputy and postal worker from Zhuhai, during the 2026 National People's Congress sessions. The proposal called for accelerating the planning and construction of the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link. The NDRC stated it would coordinate with relevant departments to study the proposal comprehensively when formulating specialized plans for the comprehensive transportation and railway development sectors during the "16th Five-Year Plan" period.
The push for the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link is gaining momentum. During the 2026 sessions, Xie Jian's proposal urged national-level coordination to speed up the project, aiming to alleviate cross-river traffic pressure in the Pearl River Estuary and unlock a critical artery for Greater Bay Area integration.
This proposal addresses the pressing reality of traffic congestion in the Pearl River Estuary and aligns with the urgent need for high-quality development in the bay area. Xie Jian's research found that the capacity of existing cross-river channels is nearing its limit. The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link reached saturation soon after opening in 2024. Concurrently, a direct high-speed rail connection between the eastern and western shores is still lacking; travel by high-speed rail between Shenzhen and Zhuhai currently requires a detour through Guangzhou. The absence of a direct high-speed rail link connecting the key cities of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Macao represents a significant gap compared to the vision of building a "Greater Bay Area on the rails."
The Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link, also known as the Lingding Ocean Passage, is planned as the first dual-purpose road-and-rail tunnel in the Greater Bay Area. It would stretch from Qianhai in Shenzhen on the east to the Hi-tech Zone in Zhuhai on the west. Designed as a composite corridor, it is intended to accommodate expressway, high-speed rail, and intercity railway functions, potentially enabling a 30-minute direct journey between Shenzhen and Zhuhai. While preliminary work has accelerated, the high-speed rail component has not yet been incorporated into national-level railway plans, representing a key bottleneck for the project's advancement.
In its response, the NDRC acknowledged that Deputy Xie Jian's suggestions provide valuable input for refining the draft outline of the "16th Five-Year Plan," confirming the commission's serious consideration. This clear response from national authorities effectively presses the "accelerator" for the project's subsequent phases.
Local governments have already laid substantial groundwork for the link, demonstrating a strong commitment to its progress. Guangdong's proposals for its "16th Five-Year Plan" already include advancing the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link. Shenzhen and Zhuhai have respectively initiated planning for the connecting routes on their ends and have reserved space accordingly.
A review of the timeline reveals that Guangdong's planning for the link has a long history; the Shenzhen-Zhuhai intercity railway was included in the revised "Pearl River Delta Regional Intercity Rail Transit Plan" as early as 2010.
Today, multiple cross-sea and cross-river passages, including the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the Nansha Bridge, and the Humen Bridge, are progressively "stitching together" the eastern and western shores of the Pearl River Estuary, facilitating the efficient flow of resources.
Xie Jian believes the project is critically important for advancing infrastructure connectivity within the Greater Bay Area, promoting integrated economic development among its city clusters, creating a half-hour living and economic circle, enhancing the Shenzhen metropolitan area's辐射带动作用 (radiation and driving effect) on the珠西 (Western Pearl River) and Zhanmao metropolitan areas, fostering coordinated development between the Greater Bay Area and the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, and constructing a comprehensive coastal transport corridor. It is deemed a key project for deepening synergy within the bay area and supporting the implementation of national strategy.
Reviewing the cross-river transport layout of the Greater Bay Area, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge first established direct跨境联通脉络 (cross-border links) between Zhuhai, Hong Kong, and Macao, solidifying the hardware foundation for integration among the three regions. The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link then broke down the transportation barriers for cities on the western shore like Zhongshan and Jiangmen to connect with Shenzhen, expanding their development radius for integrating into the core economic circle of the eastern shore.
Within this layout, the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link holds strategic significance, filling the crucial gap between the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Upon completion, it will reshape the transportation pattern across the bay area, enabling the full realization of a "Golden Inner Bay 1-hour economic circle."
"In a sense, the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link holds even greater significance than the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link," analyzed Song Ding, a senior researcher at the national high-end think tank CDI. "First, the western cities it connects Shenzhen to—Zhuhai and Macao—are central to the western metropolitan circle, giving them crucial strategic importance. Second, as a dual-purpose road-and-rail passage, its influence will be more profound." It is anticipated that once the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link opens, economic, trade, scientific, and socio-cultural exchanges between the eastern and western shores will become more frequent and紧密 (close), injecting new vitality into the coordinated development of the Greater Bay Area.
The essence of transportation connectivity is the flow of factors of production, and this efficient flow is key to solving the problem of developmental imbalance between the two shores of the Pearl River Estuary.
For the Greater Bay Area, which is at a critical stage of transitioning between old and new growth drivers, the massive infrastructure investment in the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link promises not just reduced travel times but tangible economic gains. Research from the Ministry of Transport's Scientific Research Institute suggests that an investment of 1 trillion yuan in highway construction can directly boost GDP by 0.8-0.9 trillion yuan and indirectly drive GDP growth by 2-2.5 trillion yuan.
From a regional resource perspective, the eastern and western shores of the Pearl River Estuary exhibit highly complementary characteristics, yet efficient collaboration has long been hampered by transportation barriers.
Shenzhen on the eastern shore possesses financial platforms, high-speed rail hubs, vast scientific innovation resources, and high-end industrial clusters, making it a national hub for technology and industry. However, it faces bottlenecks such as extreme land scarcity, insufficient space for industrial capacity, and high factor costs, creating a pressing need to relocate and transform many high-quality industries and scientific achievements.
Conversely, Zhuhai on the western shore boasts quality innovation carriers, ample land reserves, a favorable ecological environment, and the unique advantage of proximity to Macao, giving it strong capacity for industrial hosting and achievement transformation. However, it has long lacked channels for attracting high-end industrial辐射 (radiation) and top talent, preventing its development potential from being fully realized.
In terms of economic辐射力 (influence), by connecting Shenzhen's innovation resources with the manufacturing base of the western Pearl River region, a future industrial collaboration model of "Shenzhen R&D + Zhuhai manufacturing" is expected to form. This would accelerate the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and the integration of industrial chains within the bay area, speeding up the formation of the "1-hour economic circle" in the Golden Inner Bay.
Recently, the Guangdong Provincial Public Resource Trading Platform issued a tender for a "Zhuhai Railway Hub Master Plan Feasibility Study." The project will comprehensively study existing lines like the Guangzhou-Zhuhai intercity railway and the Zhuhai-Jinwan intercity railway, railways under construction such as the Zhuhai-Zhaoqing high-speed rail, and planned lines including the Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macao) high-speed rail and the Shenzhen-Zhuhai high-speed rail. It will consider adjustments like the potential relocation of the Hengqin station for the Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macao) high-speed rail. The study aims to evaluate different master plan scenarios for the Zhuhai railway hub, optimize them based on findings, and integrate comprehensive hub resources like the Zhuhai Hezhou and Hengqin high-speed rail hubs to achieve integrated development between railways and urban transport.
The "2026 Zhuhai Municipal Government Work Report" proposed deepening participation in the "Golden Inner Bay" construction, promoting deeper interaction between the珠西都市圈 (Western Pearl River Metropolitan Circle) and the Guangzhou and Shenzhen metropolitan circles, and facilitating integrated development across the Pearl River Estuary. It also emphasized intensifying efforts to advance preliminary work on the Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link and striving to include the Shenzhen-Zhuhai-Macao high-speed rail project in national plans.
Leveraging passages like the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the future Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, the flow of talent, industry, and capital between the two shores of the Pearl River Estuary is set to become more efficient.
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