When the HK$84.4 billion (US$12 billion) high speed railway is up and running in the third quarter of 2018, mainland China officers will be able to exercise almost full jurisdiction in a 25 per cent portion of the terminus that the central government will lease from the local government.

They expect in the next two to three months, Hong Kong citizens will welcome the joint immigration and customs facilities at the high-speed railway after thorough explanation.

“Only such an arrangement can unleash the economic and social benefits brought by the high-speed railway.”
China Railway’s general manager, Lu Dongfu, said the cross-border link was an integral part of the country’s infrastructure network and would play a major role in strengthening ties between Hong Kong and the mainland.

Hong Kong wants more of role in the AIIB and Belt Road Initiative

Hong Kong hopes to play a more active role in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), said the city’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam.

“We hope the AIIB will use Hong Kong more” in the projects that it planned to invest in, including in areas such as risk assessment, she said yesterday evening.

Hong Kong also hopes to play a role in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a Chinese development strategy to build infrastructure along sea and land trading routes that link China to Europe and Africa.

Other High Speed rail projects

Construction of a new high-speed railway in northeast China’s Jilin Province started Tuesday.

The high speed railway, linking Dunhua city and Baihe town in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, is 113.5 kilometers long with a speed of 250 km per hour.

The autonomous region of Inner Mongolia joined China’s high-speed network on August 3 with the opening of the 126km Hohhot – Ulanqab section of the 287km Hohhot – Zhangjiakou high-speed line.

In the initial phase of operations China Railway Corporation (CRC) is running five return services a day between Hohhot East and Ulanqab with trains operating at speeds of up to 250km/h, offering a journey time of 39 minutes.

The remainder of the line from Ulanqab to Zhangjiakou in neighbouring Hebei province is due to open in 2018.

Brian Wang

Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.

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