Outdoor billboards are seen in Central, Hong Kong to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to motherland. Xinhua

Cheers erupted as the last section of the tunnel box segment was hoisted into position, bringing the world’s longest cross-sea bridge one stage closer to completion.

Excavation of the Scenic Hill Tunnel was completed in May. The tunnel is part of the Hong Kong Link Road (HKLR) leading to the 55-kilometer Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) that connects Zhuhai in Guangdong Province with Hong Kong and Macao.

The bridge will be put into use in December, cutting land travel time between Hong Kong and Zhuhai from three hours to 30 minutes.

The bridge is another effort to bring Hong Kong closer to the motherland.

For 20 years, the Chinese Government has been making every possible effort to ensure the stability and prosperity of the special administrative region (SAR).

Basic necessities, including about 95 percent of live swine, 100 percent of live cattle, 90 percent of vegetables and 70 percent of flour on the Hong Kong market are supplied by the mainland.

Guangdong-based Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant provides a quarter of Hong Kong’s annual electricity.

About 70 to 80 percent of Hong Kong’s fresh water is provided by the mainland.

The Central Government also supported Hong Kong during the Asian financial crisis in 1997, the international financial crisis since 2008 and the SARS epidemic.

Efforts to support Hong Kong in consolidating and elevating its position as an international financial, shipping and trade center have been written in the country’s 13th “Five-year Plan.” The Central Government also pledged to support the region in strengthening its position as a hub for global offshore RMB business and an international asset management center.

“The stability and development of the mainland provides backing for Hong Kong and a prosperous and stable Hong Kong also contributes to the mainland’s development,” said Zhang Rongshun, vice chairperson of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Basic Law Committee of the National People’s Congress Standing Committee.

As of the end of 2016, Hong Kong remains the largest source of overseas investment for the mainland. The mainland had approved nearly 400,000 projects by Hong Kong investors worth over US$914 billion.

Hong Kong is also the largest recipient of the mainland’s overseas investment and its largest overseas financing platform.

The development of Hong Kong can not be separated from the motherland, said HKSAR’s Chief Executive Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor. “At every stage, Hong Kong secures new growth points within the development of the country. This is true for the past, and for future as well.”

Lam expects greater opportunities for Hong Kong brought about by the Belt and Road Initiative.

Johnny Ng, president of the Hong Kong United Youth Association, called on Hong Kong’s younger generation to join their mainland peers to seek opportunities from China’s national strategies.

Ng believes now to be a “golden age” for Hong Kong’s young people to start businesses on the mainland.(Xinhua)