BEIJING (REUTERS) - A towering bridge hanging 565m above a gorge in south-western China opened to traffic on Thursday (Dec 29), with state media hailing it as the world's highest bridge.

The Beipanjiang bridge spans 1.34 km between Xuanwei city in Yunnan province and Shuicheng county in Guizhou and cost 1.023 billion yuan (S$208 million) to build, broadcaster China Central Television said.

The four lane bridge, which took three years to build, will cut journey time between Xuanwei and Shuicheng county from more than four hours to about an hour, CCTV said.