China Completes 28-Kilometer Sea Crossing as Europe's Infrastructure Ambitions Face Delays
The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link showcases China's infrastructure prowess while EU auditors warn key transport projects will miss 2030 targets. Europe is building its own record-breaking tunnel, but delivery speed remains a challenge.
China has completed the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, a 28-kilometer cross-sea corridor connecting two major cities across the Pearl River Estuary in one of the world's largest infrastructure projects.
The engineering feat combines long-span bridges, artificial islands, and a 6.8-kilometer immersed tube tunnel beneath open sea waters. According to project documentation, it represents the longest and widest steel-shell concrete immersed tunnel in the world.
A Link That Changed Travel Times
The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link opened in June 2024 after seven years of construction. It cut travel time between the two cities from over two hours to less than 30 minutes, according to engineering reports.
In its first month of operation, over three million vehicles crossed the corridor. The eight-lane highway can handle speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour, with four lanes in each direction.
The project cost approximately $4.83 billion at the time of proposal. It forms part of China's strategy to integrate the Greater Bay Area, a mega-region encompassing Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, and surrounding cities.
The Greater Bay Area's Economic Weight
The corridor serves a region with substantial economic output. According to Macao News, the Greater Bay Area's GDP exceeded 7.2 trillion yuan ($1 trillion) in the first half of 2025.
The region accounts for roughly 11 percent of China's GDP while occupying just 0.6 percent of its land area. Its economy expanded to 14.79 trillion yuan (about $2.09 trillion) in 2024, according to Xinhua, surpassing both the New York Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster topped the World Intellectual Property Organization's Global Innovation Index 2025 for the first time, overtaking Tokyo-Yokohama.
Europe's Infrastructure Ambitions
The EU has its own trans-European transport network policy, known as TEN-T, designed to connect cities and regions across the continent with railways, roads, and waterways.
Europe is also building what will become the world's longest immersed tunnel. The Fehmarn Belt tunnel connecting Denmark and Germany will span 17.6 kilometers beneath the Baltic Sea, surpassing the current record held by China's Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge tunnel.
The European project, budgeted at 7.4 billion euros, will cut travel time between the two countries from 45 minutes by ferry to seven minutes by train. It represents the largest infrastructure project in Danish history.
The Gap in Delivery Speed
The comparison reveals different approaches to major infrastructure. China completed the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link in seven years. The Fehmarn Belt tunnel, which began construction in 2020, is expected to open in 2031 at the earliest, with delays already pushing the timeline.
A recent EU auditors' report found that key transport network projects are well behind their 2030 targets. Eight megaprojects previously assessed in 2020 experienced an overall cost increase of 82 percent against original estimates.
Rail Baltica and the Lyon-Turin rail link contributed most to the cost gap. The auditors warned that failure to deliver TEN-T projects undermines Europe's climate goals, since delayed rail and waterways keep emissions high.
Different Models, Different Outcomes
The EU's November 2025 high-speed rail plan set ambitious targets: cutting the Berlin-Copenhagen journey from seven hours to four by 2030, and connecting Sofia to Athens in six hours by 2035.
Whether Europe can accelerate its infrastructure delivery remains uncertain. The EU-Mercosur trade agreement demonstrated that the bloc can achieve major policy goals when political will aligns. Infrastructure may require similar determination.
China's model offers speed but operates under a different political system with fewer procedural constraints. The EU's approach involves environmental assessments, public consultations, and cross-border coordination that add time but also legitimacy.
What Comes Next
The Greater Bay Area continues to expand its transportation network. The Shiziyang Channel, another mega-project with a main span of 2,180 meters, is expected to open in 2028. The Lianghuashan Link connecting Guangzhou to Dongguan is planned to begin construction during China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
For Europe, the question is not whether to build, but how to build faster without sacrificing the democratic processes that distinguish European governance. The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link shows what concentrated resources and political authority can achieve. The Fehmarn Belt tunnel will demonstrate whether Europe can match that scale while maintaining its own standards.
Both approaches have their merits. But in an era of intensifying global competition, the speed of infrastructure delivery increasingly matters for economic integration and regional connectivity.
January 22, 2026