JOURNEY times between the Pearl River Delta and the western part of China’s Guangdong province were shortened significantly on July 1 with the opening of a new 200km/h line from Jiangmen to Maoming.

The 357km line has reduced the journey time between Guangzhou and Zhanjiang from 7h 56min to 2h 53min.

In the second phase of the project, the line will be extended 116km west across the Pearl River to Shenzhen to complete a high-speed corridor linking Hong Kong with the island of Hainan. The Yuan 65.2bn ($US 9.9bn) project is due to be completed in 2023.