Li Xi, Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, said to the CGCC delegation to Guangdong that the Greater Bay Area’s construction is a major historical development opportunity for combining the actual situations in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to align with the needs of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, the direction of the bay area and the capabilities of Guangdong.
The State Council recently unveiled the outline of the development plan for the Greater Bay Area, which sketches out the area’s overall development direction and positioning. As the Country’s key development strategy for reform and opening-up in the new era, the Greater Bay Area brings a new round of opportunities for cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Soon after the release of the outline development plan, Jonathon Choi, the Chamber’s Chairman led a delegation to Guangdong on 20 February. Tan Tieniu, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR was the honorary adviser of the delegation, which visited Li Xi, Member of the Political Bureau and Secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee; Ma Xingrui, Governor of Guangdong and Zhang Shuofu, Secretary of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee to discuss the development and construction
of Greater Bay Area.
Leveraging the respective strengths of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao
Li welcomed the CGCC delegation to Guangdong, which was organized immediately after the announcement of the outline development plan. He pointed out that the Greater Bay Area has great historical and practical significance as it will leverage the respective strengths of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, especially in technological innovation and improvement of people’s livelihood and well-being. Guangdong has made all arrangements regarding the direction, objectives, initiatives and important platforms for the Greater Bay Area’s construction. Through learning and research, the task force for construction of the Greater Bay Area set up by the CPC Provincial Committee and the Provincial Government will formulate longterm work mechanisms and annual work plans specifically for the Greater Bay Area. He specifically mentioned that the demonstration zone for cooperation among the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao is especially important among the five major positioning of the Greater Bay Area, which means that future experiments on cooperation in the area could be extended nationwide if they produce good results.
The construction of the Greater Bay Area is a major historical opportunity. Li stressed that the outline plan needs to be globally oriented and internationally based. Guangdong is further exploring various areas including innovation and technology corridors, transportation interconnectivity, and youth innovation and entrepreneurship. The aim is to combine the actual situations of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to align with the needs of the Mainland, Hong Kong and Macao, the direction of the bay area and the capabilities of Guangdong. He added that as Hong Kong’s business community is familiar with international laws and regulations, investment trade and the international environment, he looks forward to Guangdong and Hong Kong jointly becoming an important node of theBelt and Road, and hopes the Chamber to continue participating in the Greater Bay Area’s construction and keep pace with the country’s prosperity.
Promoting industrial cooperation between Guangzhou and Hong Kong
Zhang Shuofu briefed the delegation on Guangzhou’s preparation for the Greater Bay Area’s development, including setting up an industry cooperation zone for indepth collaboration between Hong Kong and Guangdong and a Hong Kong-Macao innovation employment pilot zone in Nansha. He stressed that Guangzhou and Hong Kong will further collaborate in professional services, biomedicine, health care, port shipping, education and culture. He added that in terms of resource allocation and industrial layout, Guangzhou will coordinate and cooperate with Shenzhen and Hong Kong for synergistic development and complementarity of strengths in accordance with the Greater Bay Area plan, thus realizing Guangzhou’s role as the Greater Bay Area’s core development engine.
Continuous improvement in specific tasks
The Greater Bay Area’s outline plan puts forward five strategic positioning, including building a world-class city cluster, an international innovation and technology (I&T) hub, an important support pillar for the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), a showcase for in-depth cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, and a quality living circle for living, working and traveling, which Choi believes are precisely the blueprint for the Greater Bay Area’s development. However, under the development blueprint, some practical tasks are yet to be discussed and firmed up. For example, Hong Kong businesses are more concerned about how to integrate the flow of people, materials, capital and information; taxation for Hong Kong people; traffic volume along the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge; and how to establish a two-way RMB flow mechanism, a shared e-payment platform for the three places and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao innovation and technology corridor. He hopes that the various areas of the Greater Bay Area can be consistently improved through continuous discussions and research.
During the meeting, Choi also briefed the provincial and municipal leaders on the Chamber’s tasks to promote the Greater Bay Area’s construction, including holding a Greater Bay Area-themed forum in Hong Kong on 25 March, assisting the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to hold a Greater Bay Areathemed forum in Tokyo in April, and planning to hold the World Bay Area Forum in Guangzhou in September. Stressing the need to do well in implementing the Greater Bay Area’s construction and the B&R, he looks forward to the Chamber joining hands with Guangdong to capture new opportunities and make contributions to the Greater Bay Area in the new era.
