Practicalities

Connecting with the Mainland

One of the major advantages of doing business and living in Hong Kong is its proximity to Mainland China, and the city provides easy access to the factories of Guangdong, which account for about three tenths of China’s exports and one-third of the world’s production of shoes, textiles, and toys.

The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link runs from the terminus at Hong Kong West Kowloon Station and arrives at the Shenzhen boundary in less than 20 minutes, while the journey time to Guangzhou is less than 50 minutes. From Guangzhou, passengers can take the sleeper train to Shanghai – the fastest trains take around seven hours – while from Shenzhen, there’s a sleeper train to Beijing, with the fastest service arriving in the Chinese capital in approximately nine hours.

Part of China’s broader plans for the development of the Greater Bay Area, which links Hong Kong with Macau and the Southern Chinese province of Guangdong into an economic hub, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) is the longest bridge-tunnel sea crossing in the world at 55km long. The bridge reduces the transit time from Hong Kong to Zhuhai from several hours to around 30 minutes, while the drive time from Hong Kong to Macao is cut in half from one hour to half an hour when using the bridge.