THE Hong Kong Government has approved funding needed for a high-speed rail link to China, giving the green light for MTR Corp to resume building HK$84.4 billion (US$11 billion) project.

Approval was granted after the acting chairman for the finance committee Chan Kam-lam called for a vote amid protests by some lawmakers. At the briefing to announce the decision, Mr Chan was heckled by those who opposed the project.

MTR, three-quarters owned by the government, has been criticised for budget overruns and missed completion targets on the project to connect Hong Kong to Shenzhen and Guangzhou in southern China.

Some lawmakers have called for the link to be scrapped amid repeated delays and escalating costs that swelled to HK$84.4 billion from an earlier estimated HK$65 billion.

"As of today, over 77 per cent of the project has been completed," said MTR chief executive Lincoln Leong. "We are confident about the current cost valuation and timetable of the project to be met."

Opposition to the link has been brewing since 2009 and has gained in intensity with the emergence of the "localist" movement, which opposes what it sees as encroachment on the local way of life by the Chinese governing and business elites.