The planning on coordinated development of city cluster of Greater Pearl River Delta is formulated and listed as a development plan for a bay area as an important part of space layout. It puts forward four cooperative programs including cross-border transportation cooperation, cross-border regional cooperation, cooperation on ecological and environmental protection and coordination mechanism construction.
Local governments of Guangdong province, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR jointly formulate the key action plan for a livable bay area construction of Pan-Pearl River Delta in order to better carry out the cross-border regional cooperation.
The National Development and Reform Commission releases the general planning on fully pushing forward pilot innovation and reform in parts of the regional system. Guangdong is included in the provincial administrative regions, focusing on deepening the innovative cooperation of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. Guangdong reform pilot zone puts innovation as a priority for the cooperation of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, which means that innovation is the core of the pilot zone.
Hu Chunhua, Party chief of Guangdong province and Ma Xingrui, the governor of Guangdong province meet Leung Chun-ying, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in Guangzhou. Both sides reach a consensus on cooperation in trade, technology, environment protection, education and free trade zone construction. Guangdong and Hong Kong participate in implementing the Belt and Road Initiative, further deepening the cooperation of the two areas.
Hu Chunhua and Ma Xingrui inspect Guangzhou’s Nansha and urge that the Nansha Free Trade Zone should be built as a gateway for Guangdong to open to the outside world. Nansha aims to orientate itself as a high-level international city and a center for international shipping, trade and finance, serving as the sub-center of Guangzhou to support and lead a new round of opening-up in Guangdong province.
Guangdong and Hong Kong will set up Guangdong-Hong Kong deep cooperation area in Nansha Free Trade Zone, focusing on eight industries including transformation of scientific achievements, international education and training, financial service, professional service, leisure tourism and health care, shipping and logistics service and information technology.
The concept of the Greater Bay Area was envisioned years ago, and Premier Li Keqiang announces its official debut in his government work report at the fifth plenary session of the 12th National People’s Congress. The Greater Bay Area aims at pushing forward the cooperation of the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, giving full play to the unique advantages of Hong Kong and Macao and upgrading the Greater Bay Area’s position and function in the nation’s economic development and opening to the outside world.
Leung Chun-ying meets with Ren Xuefeng, deputy secretary of Guangdong Provincial Party Committee in Boao, Hainan province. The two sides hold discussions on two topics: Hong Kong and Guangzhou how to cooperate to push forward the city cluster plan of Greater Bay Area; Hong Kong and Guangzhou how to go global and play their roles in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative.
Leung Chun-ying leads a delegation visiting the six cities of the Greater Bay Area comprising Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Jiangmen, Zhongshan and Zhuhai. They hold deep discussions on the cities’ development situation, orientation, logistics and infrastructure construction. Leung says that Hong Kong has superiorities in modern service industry, finance, legislation, accounting and architecture. “Hong Kong pays great attention to the cooperation with Guangdong province as well as the city cluster plan of Greater Bay Area that announced in Premier Li’s government work report,” Leung says.
The website of Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission releases the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) of Guangdong province’s modern service industry development, which announces the building of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a global first-class bay area and city cluster. Guangdong provincial government will speed up the construction of Pearl River Delta, taking Guangzhou and Shenzhen as the center, while Shantou, Zhanjiang and Shaoguan as the sub-center in order to develop regional services with their professional characteristics. By this way, the development pattern of service industry combining the central radiation and professional division of labor will be formed.
