Hong Kong's Chief Secretary, Donald Tsang Yam-kuen, and Sarah Liao Sau-tung, Secretary for Environment, Transport and Works, met officials from the central government, Guangdong and Macau in Beijing yesterday to discuss a consultancy report on the proposed bridge linking Hong Kong with the Pearl River Delta.

Speaking after the meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guest House, Mr Tsang said the report conducted by a research institute under the State Development and Reform Commission concluded that the Y-shaped bridge proposal favoured by Hong Kong should be given priority.

'There are many possible routes linking Hong Kong and the western Pearl River Delta, but the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai bridge proposal can reap the maximum macro-economic and social benefits. It also has its demands and urgency,' Mr Tsang said.

'Participants at the meeting from all sides have agreed with this conclusion. They agreed that this route would not only boost the development of the western Pearl River Delta, but also bring about many opportunities for many areas in Hong Kong.'

It is the first time Guangdong has openly supported the Y-shaped proposal.

Yesterday's meeting was attended by the commission's vice-minister, Zhang Guobao; deputy director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Chen Zuoer; and officials from Guangdong and Macau.

Mr Tsang said the proposal would soon be submitted to the State Council for approval. The parties would discuss and conduct studies on financing, routes, operation, the ecological impact and other details after approval had been obtained.

Macau Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah said yesterday his government would co-operate on the project. 'We will be very happy to see the bridge being constructed, it has great benefits for Macau and the entire Pearl River Delta in the long term. We will definitely make support measures,' he said.

Eden Woon Yi-teng, chief executive of the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said the bridge would blend well with economic integration and the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement.

'The most encouraging thing is that the entire district has started to become a region. Everyone knows that if we want to compete with the Yangtze delta, or other places in the world, we have to work as one region.'

Leo Leung Kwok-kee, executive director of Hopewell Engineering and Construction who has helped Hopewell Holdings chairman Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung in championing the idea of the Y-shaped link, welcomed the latest development and said the bridge would boost the tourism and the logistics industries.

A report by the pro-Beijing newspaper Wen Wei Po yesterday said Premier Wen Jiabao was expected to approve the project in September.

Work was expected to begin in 2004 and be completed in 2006 if construction goes smoothly, the report said.