Beijing has ordered a team of officials to decide whether there is a need for a bridge linking Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai, with mainland leaders to receive their recommendations on the controversial plan within weeks.
A delegation from the Transport Research Institute of the State Development Planning Commission secretly visited Hong Kong this week and held a series of meetings to gather data and opinions on the project.
The institute will complete a study on the feasibility of the bridge in time for the 16th Communist Party Congress in November. The study will provide the new leadership expected to be chosen at the congress with a clear recommendation on whether to give their blessing to the project. It will also settle a year-long squabble between Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai over the project.
A source close to this week's talks told the South China Morning Post that the delegation's 'low-profile' visit to the SAR was to gather background and opinions on the project. 'This study by Beijing will be an influential and determining one that will set aside all the squabbles,' the source said. He would not reveal who took part in the meetings but said those involved included leading figures from the engineering and logistics sectors.
The source said that the study would look primarily at the need and timing of the bridge and estimate what gains the project would bring to the Pearl River Delta and western China under the Go West development campaign.
Financial arrangements - including the crucial question of whether the bridge should be privately or publicly funded - and other technical details will be investigated next year.