Construction of the cross-border expressway to connect with another expressway in Hong Kong is expected to start by the end of the year after it passed initial appraisal by experts Monday.

The 32.8-kilometer expressway, which will cost 4.86 billion yuan (US$675 million), will connect with the planned Liantang Checkpoint in Luohu District and join the Shenzhen-Huizhou Expressway and Shenzhen-Shantou Expressway connecting with eastern Guangdong.

The expressway and the Liantang Checkpoint are scheduled to open in 2011.

Experts attending the appraisal meeting Monday said the road project would play a significant role in the city's sustainable economic development, particularly eastern districts including Longgang and Luohu.

The city government had invited tenders for the project in February last year and investors were required to have at least 200 million yuan in registered capital.

The governments of Shenzhen and Hong Kong set up a task force in April last year to study the feasibility of setting up a new border checkpoint at Xilingxia Village in Liantang, Luohu District.

So far the task force has finished preliminary planning for the checkpoint, which will cover an area of 40 to 60 hectares and is expected to handle 28,000 container trailers daily.

The project will relieve traffic congestion in the east of the city by diverting some container trailers from the Wenjindu and Shatoujiao checkpoints.

The project will need the approval by the Central Government and the Hong Kong SAR Government.

Editor: Yan