HK trade expected to be hurt by line from Guangzhou
Work will soon resume on the Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway, the last link in the Beijing-Zhuhai railway, six years after it was suspended over of a lack of funding and support for the project.
'Construction of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai railway will re-commence in March,' Zhuhai government secretary-general Li Ying said yesterday.
Experts say the completion of the rail link poses a threat to Hong Kong because it will feed Li Ka-shing's container terminal at the port of Gaolan and reduce the flow of cargo to Hong Kong.
Mr Li's Hutchison Delta Ports is building two 50,000-tonne terminals in Gaolan, with plans to build three to four 100,000-tonne terminals.
'If you look at it now, there is not enough cargo for the railway to carry but even Li Ka-shing is optimistic about Zhuhai's prospects. [The government] is using the railway to spur industrial development in the west,' said Sun Yat-sen University professor Zheng Tianxiang .
