China opens world's longest sea bridge near Shanghai

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China will open the world's longest cross-sea bridge on Thursday, linking the financial and commercial hub of Shanghai with the booming port and industrial city of Ningbo, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The 11.8 billion yuan ($1.7 billion) cable-stayed structure, spanning Hangzhou Bay in Zhejiang Province south of Shanghai, will be open to traffic on a trial basis at midnight following an inauguration ceremony on Thursday afternoon, Xinhua said.

The 36 km span will shorten travel time between Shanghai and Ningbo, two key port cities in China's prosperous Yangtze River Delta, to two-and-a-half hours from four.

China, the world's fourth-largest economy, is spending heavily on infrastructure to maintain its double-digit rates of economic growth. It began construction on the bridge in November 2003.