The Pearl River Delta is one of the most important manufacturing centres in the world today. It's thanks to the massive network of superhighways and bridges that have connected its myriad companies and factories to customers and markets overseas.
Until the global financial crisis struck, the factories in and around Shenzhen, Guangzhou and the delta received some US$2 billion of foreign investment each month and churned out about US$40 billion worth of goods, nearly a third of all the goods exported overseas.
Cheap labour and easy access to the outside world have been fundamental to the economic success of this part of the mainland. And Hopewell Holdings and its subsidiaries have been responsible for much of the infrastructure to create this access.
Under Sir Gordon Wu Ying-sheung's leadership, Hopewell became one of the first companies outside China to invest in mainland infrastructure projects, following the adoption of Deng Xiaoping's 'open door' policy in the late 1970s.
Among the delta projects in which Hopewell has invested are several toll expressways operated as joint ventures with the local government. The US$1.2 billion Guangzhou-Shenzhen superhighway is one of them.
As the first and only expressway directly connecting Guangzhou with Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the superhighway is a major artery in the developing delta expressway network, forming a north-south corridor running through the eastern part of the delta.
Many large towns and important facilities, including Shenzhen's Baoan Airport and various seaports, are connected to the expressway's 21 interchanges. The superhighway is also well connected to other major highways in the delta and, as the only expressway between Shenzhen and the Humen Bridge, it is the most important route for traffic between locations in the western and southeastern parts of the delta.