Southern China's Guangzhou City and Hong Kong would become closer with a planned express rail link, Guangzhou Mayor Zhang Guangning told a press conference Monday.

Trains on the proposed express rail link would reach speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour, cutting the travel time from 90 minutes to half an hour.

Zhang said the new railway could terminate at Panyu in Guangzhou, allowing it to link with another railway to Wuhan in Hubei Province now under construction.

Passengers could have dinner in Hong Kong after finishing a day's work in Guangzhou, Zhang said.

The mayor suggested the two cities establish a coordinating team for better cooperation in tourism, infrastructure construction, trade and other fields.

(Shenzhen Daily March 30, 2005)