(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-05-01 19:47

"Taking environmental protection into account, the top priority for us is to prevent the Hangzhou Bay water from being polluted," said Qiu Dongyao, Jiaxing executive vice mayor.

As a shortcut between Zhejiang and Shanghai, the bridge is expected to greatly alleviate traffic flow in the booming Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo triangle.

It will also help boost economic integration and development in the Yangtze River Delta, which covers almost 100,000 square kilometers of land comprising Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu. It is home to 72.4 million people.

"I think it will be easier for our company to recruit high-caliber employees in the future, who always prefer working in small cities like Cixi but living in big cities like Shanghai," said Sun Ningwei, vice president of the Xinhai Electric Co. Ltd. based in Cixi, Ningbo.

"They can leave Shanghai for Cixi in the morning and go back in the afternoon. It's only about 1.5 hours' drive," she said.

Sun Bingdui, a resident from Cixi's Tian'an Village located near the bridge, anticipated a better life after its opening.

"There used to be a desolate beach near our village. Later many factories were built there due to the bridge," he recalled. "I opened a seafood restaurant a few years ago, drawing many of nearby factory workers."

"I was one of the poorest in the village in the past. Now, I'm one of the richest," he said.

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