Construction of a bridge section of a highway linking south China's Shenzhen and Zhongshan started Thursday, the Guangdong provincial transportation group said.

The total length of Shenzhen-Zhongshan highway will be 24 kilometers and include an underwater tunnel and two artificial islands. It will open to traffic in 2024.

Upon completion, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan highway will cut the travel time between the two cities from two hours to just 30 minutes.

The link will become an important piece of infrastructure in the Greater Bay Area, which covers Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, and nine cities in Guangdong, including the capital city of Guangzhou as well as Shenzhen.