BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua) -- With a master plan unveiled on February 18, China has stepped up efforts to develop its southern bay area around the Pearl River Delta into a world-class city cluster that will lead the country's opening-up and further support the Belt and Road Initiative.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region and nine cities in Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
As a highly open and vibrant region in China, the bay area accounts for less than 5 percent of the country's total population but contributes around 12 percent of the national GDP.
The outline development plan, with goals covering the period from now to 2022 and extending to 2035, presents new opportunities for the bay area to deepen cooperation and jointly participate into the Belt and Road Initiative.
WIDER OPENING-UP
With opening-up as one of the key words, the plan highlights a better business environment, higher level of market integration and alignment with international market norms and standards in the bay area, in a bid to provide stronger support for the Belt and Road Initiative.
Investment will be facilitated and trade will be liberalized. The flow of people and goods will be easier.
Multinationals will be encouraged to build headquarters there, as well as set up research and development centers, labs and innovation platforms.
Specifically, the plan proposes to promote the combined management model of pre-establishment national treatment and negative list for foreign investment, deepen the reform of commercial systems, establish an international arbitration center for commercial disputes, strengthen administrative information sharing, and complete the construction of the social credit system in the region.
The plan clearly maps out the development and division for regions involved and will enable Hong Kong to make full use of its advantages, said Benjamin Hung Pi Cheng, Greater China and North Asia chief executive of the Standard Chartered.
Hong Kong's role as the international financial, shipping and trade center and aviation hub will be strengthened, and its position in offshore renminbi business and international asset management will also be improved.
Macao will develop into a world tourism and entertainment center, a platform to expand commerce and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese speaking countries, and a cultural exchange and cooperation base.
Meanwhile, Guangzhou will reinforce its role as a global commerce and trade center and aim for an international metropolis, and Shenzhen will strive to become a city of innovation with global influence.
"The Greater Bay Area with stronger global competitiveness will play a more important role in China's new round of opening-up," said Chi Fulin, head of the China Institute for Reform and Development.
Quality growth
Technological innovation will serve as a major driving force for the bay area as China has started to put more emphasis on economic quality. One of the goals written into the plan is to build a globally competitive modern industrial system.
Efforts will be made to expedite the development of the advanced manufacturing industry, nurture and strengthen strategic emerging industries, expedite the development of modern service industries, and develop the marine economy.
"The Greater Bay Area has a 10-trillion-yuan market (1.48 trillion U.S. dollars), 270 industrial clusters and 330 specialized markets, which offer huge room for the commercialization of research findings," said Deng Jiangnian, president of the Academy of Greater Bay Area Studies.
While universities in Hong Kong boast strong scientific prowess, Shenzhen is the vanguard of high-tech sectors, and the cities of Dongguan and Zhongshan are leading manufacturing bases, which will lead to highly-complementary and mutually beneficial regional cooperation.
The mature capital market in Hong Kong will also provide cash-starved tech firms on the Chinese mainland with various financing channels.
"With the consolidation of financial, technological innovation and manufacturing resources, the Greater Bay Area will become one of the most competitive bay areas in the world, with foreign enterprises attracted and national competitiveness enhanced," Hung Pi Cheng said.
Pillar for Belt and Road
To turn the bay area into an important pillar for the Belt and Road initiative, the plan says to support the implementation of documents enabling Hong Kong and Macao to fully participate in the Belt and Road construction.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, signed two arrangements with the governments of Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR respectively in 2017 and 2018, which lay out specific tasks to boost Belt and Road cooperation.
Under the arrangements, Hong Kong and Macao will be encouraged to provide financing services for the Belt and Road construction, promote the internationalization of the renminbi, as well as sign free trade agreements and participate in international organizations in the name of "Hong Kong, China" and "Macao, China" or other appropriate forms.
In a detailed way, the documents called for more effort to align the B&R with plans to build Macao into a financial service platform for commercial and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, a global center for tourism and leisure, as well as a China-Portugal business cooperation platform. As for Hong Kong, its leading role will be strengthened in assisting Chinese enterprises to go global, by offering solid help in risk consultation, insurance, green bond development, Public Private Partnership (PPP), etc. (Edited by Li Wenxin)
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