A 32km bridge spanning the Yangtze River in Jiangsu province near Shanghai - which officials say will improve infrastructure and create a new economic corridor in the region - opened yesterday.
The bridge linking he greater Suzhou area to Nantong is only the second one crossing the Yangtze between Nanjing and Shanghai.
State media said it would cut the travel time between Shanghai and Nantong, a gateway to northern Jiangsu, from more than three hours to about two hours.
Another bridge, across Hangzhou Bay, opened on May 1 connecting Shanghai to Zhejiang province . At 36km, the Hangzhou Bay Bridge is the world's longest sea-crossing structure. It connects Ningbo to Jiaxing, just south of Shanghai.
'The cities of the Yangtze River Delta economic belt want to blend into this circle, so reducing time and distance is necessary,' Xinhua quoted a Ningbo official as saying.
The mainland is also pursuing greater economic integration in other regions. Beijing and Tianjin will be more closely linked with the opening of a new 'bullet train' line before the Olympics opens on August 8.
The mainland sees infrastructure as key to economic prosperity, in part reflecting the state-planning background of government officials and the old Maoist ideal of conquering nature.