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. The relationship between such developments and economic progress has been fundamental to the success of the delta as the world's factory floor, according to Wu. 'Just think about the development of the US,' he said in an article in Silk Road, a publication of the Asia Case Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong. 'The prominent players in the declaration of independence were Bostonians, Philadelphians and Thomas Jefferson, a Virginian. New York was on the sidelines. When the Erie Canal was built, it provided access to the Great Lakes. Freight costs were reduced and New York developed into the largest port in the US and later the world.' His point was that the same thing has happened in the delta because of better access. Hong Kong factories had the orders, the technical know-how and the ability to trade and deliver but lacked land and people. On the other side of the border, there were highly capable people. 'The chemistry was right, but in order for that chemistry to work there had to be some hard physical support - highways, power stations and telecommunications,' Wu said. 'I recognised the need for these things and that's why in 1979 I approached the Chinese government ...and told them they needed superhighways. They laughed at first and said they couldn't even afford bicycles. But look at the situation today. China has 30,000 kilometres of superhighways, the second-largest network in the world after the US.' The Guangzhou-Shenzhen superhighway concession is being replicated on the western side by extending south from Guangzhou to Zhuhai and Macau in three phases of the Western Delta Route. The East-South-West Ring Road around Guangzhou serves as a circular artery. The superhighway was affected by the global economic downturn. Partly as a result of the slump in Guangdong's imports and exports since the fourth quarter of last year, daily traffic fell gradually to 308,000 vehicles by year-end. It dropped last January to 281,000 vehicles but since then has increased steadily to return to pre-crisis levels. According to Thomas Wu, managing director of Hopewell Highway Infrastructure, traffic from small passenger cars has proved resilient. 'Following the gradual recovery of the global economy and the implementation of the economic stimulus package by the [central] government, we expect economic activities in Guangdong to pick up steadily, which will benefit our expressways in terms of both traffic and toll revenue,' he said in the annual report. Hopewell is planning to expand the superhighway from a two-way, six-lane to a two-way, 10-lane highway. A plan to build one of the world's largest bridges across the delta received the blessing of the State Council in August 2003. This structure, linking Hong Kong with the western part of the delta, could stretch up to 30 kilometres and cost about US$5.74 billion. Construction is due to start in 2011.