HANGZHOU: A sea-crossing bridge linking Zhoushan City, China's only city of more than 1,000 islands in eastern Zhejiang Province, with the country's mainland went into trial operation Friday.

Costing 13.1 billion yuan (US$1.9 billion), the 46.5 km-long  Zhoushan Sea-crossing Bridge, so far the longest of its kind in the country, was completed after 10 years of construction.

The bridge starts at the Zhoushan island, passing the island of Lidiao, Fuchi, Cezi and Jintang and traversing several watercourses, and connects with the national expressway network at Zhenhai District in Ningbo, an economically strong city of Zhejiang Province.

The opening of the bridge will improve the life of Zhoushan residents and facilitate the development of the deep-water harbors of Zhoushan and Ningbo, said Lu Zushan, governor of Zhejiang.

Rich in marine resources, Zhoushan is one of China's major fishing grounds. The Zhoushan Port is a natural communications hub for ships sailing from south to north. It handled more than 10 million twentyfoot-equivalent units (TEUs) last year.