Hong Kong, Macao and their neighboring Guangdong Province have reached an agreement on fund raising for a grand cross-sea bridge that will provide a transport shortcut in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), according to a top Guangdong official.

The bridge that links Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai, a booming port city in Guangdong, will cost 42.2 billion yuan ($5.9 billion). The project will be partly funded by the governments of the three parties, and the rest funds will be raised through public bidding, said Guangdong governor Huang Huahua.

Huang, a deputy to the National People's Congress, made the remarks on the sideline of the annual session of the top legislature.

The bridge will shorten a one-way journey between the three places from current five or six hours to dozens of minutes. It will also help cut transport costs, experts said.

The project is expected to boost the integrated economic development in the region and improve the comprehensive competitiveness of the Pearl River Delta area, experts said.

Operators of the bridge can toll passing vehicles for 50 years, but it is estimated that it will take only 36 years and a half to cover the cost, Huang said.

He said experts have completed 21 researches, and the next is to fulfill another four researches and conduct an environment impact assessment.