Chinese President Hu Jintao (R) and Macao SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah at the inauguration ceremony of a local bridge. (Xinhua photo)

Sai Van Bridge in Macao. (File photo:Xinhua)

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is making his first trip to Macao, on Sunday attended the inauguration ceremony of a local bridge.

Hu, also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, is here on a two-day visit to attend a celebration gathering marking the 5th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the inauguration ceremony of the second-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR).

Accompanied by Macao SAR Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Hu cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the Sai Van Bridge in the afternoon.

As the most-heavily-invested public infrastructure project since Macao's return to the motherland, the 2,200-meter-long bridge with double-deck carriageways took more than two years to build. It will greatly facilitate local life and the economy afterbeing officially open to traffic next January.

President Hu, who arrived in Macao Sunday morning, took a drivethrough the bridge after the ceremony.

Ho Hau Wah thanked President Hu for his presence at the ceremony, saying completion of the bridge will further improve Macao's traffic system.

He also expressed thanks to all those who took part in the construction of the bridge. Enditem

Backgrounder: Sai Van Bridge in Macao

MACAO, Dec. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- President Hu Jintao, who is here to attend a celebration gathering marking the 5th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, cut the ribbon at the inauguration of the Sai Van Bridge Sunday. Following is the basic information about the Sai Van Bridge.

The Sai Van Bridge, designed with double-deck carriageways, starts from the Sai Van Lake on the Macao Peninsula linking it to the Taipa Island. Cables of the bridge stay at 10-meter intervals in a M-shaped arch that signals the capital letter of "Macao."

Construction of the 2,200-meter-long bridge began on Oct. 7, 2002. It has been the largest public project since Macao returned to the motherland at the end of 1999. Construction cost of the SaiVan Bridge was estimated at 560 million patacas (about 70 million US dollars).

Sai Van Bridge is the third bridge linking the Macao Peninsula to the Taipa Island. The double-deck design allows six lanes in the upper layer and four lanes in the lower which is shaped like atube and is shut down in common days and opens only when a typhoonhits the city. The lower layer also leaves room for the installation of a light rail.

The bridge construction project was jointly undertaken by the Chon Tit Macao Investment and Development Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Company, China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group Co. Ltd. and its Reconnaissance and Design Institute.