(Yicai Global) Jan. 9 -- Eastern China's Zhejiang province is planning to build the world's longest cross-sea railway bridge, enabling a high-speed line to connect Ningbo and Shanghai.

China Railway and the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission held a hearing in Ningbo last month. Attending experts agreed in principle to the proposed Shanghai-Jiaxing-Ningbo Railway plan, state-backed online news outlet The Paper reported.

China Railway will strive to include the project in the national railway construction plan for 2016 to 2020 and to start construction by 2020.

Under the scheme, the railway will link Jiaxing with Ningbo with a 200-kilometer track via a bridge spanning Hangzhou Bay. The line, which will be 100 kilometers shorter than the one in use, will reduce travel time between the cities to about 51 minutes.