Zhuhai is rated as one of the most livable, appealing, and business-friendly cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The city also has become an innovative pioneer in implementing China's Reform & Opening Up.

Livability

In 1998, Zhuhai became the first Chinese city to receive the UN International Award for Most Improved Living Environment as efforts by city planners and the local government made it one of the "Most Livable Places." This environmentally friendly city at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta is starting to captivate the rest of the world.

Zhuhai was granted the Demonstration City for Health Construction title for 2018 with the top score in Guangdong Province. It is also one of China's National Model Cities for Environmental Protection, a state-level Ecologically Model City, one of the Top 10 Livable Cities in China, and of the Top 10 Competitive Cities in Urban Livability.

Transportation

Zhuhai, with Hong Kong across the bay in the east and Macao adjacent in the south and nearby east, is the traffic hub of the west coast of the Pearl River Estuary. Based on the pillars of "harbor, airport, and customs," Zhuhai has gradually shaped a three-pronged transport network that reaches Hong Kong and Macao and connects efficiently with the rest of China.

The 55-km (34-mile) Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge that opened on Oct 24, 2018 makes Zhuhai the only city connected directly to Hong Kong and Macao by roadway. The operation of the bridge has broken an infrastructure bottleneck in the Greater Bay Area with a well-rounded flow of people, commodities, information, and capital.

Gaolan is one of the leading international ports in Guangdong Province. This natural deep-water port is in the southwest of Zhuhai. The port has 72 production berths, of which 27 are designed for over 10,000 tons as of April 2020. Specializing in petrochemicals, energy, and equipment manufacturing, the port handled 121.35 million tons of cargo in 2020. Its capability will be further increased with the completion of the second and third phases of the Gaolan Port Container Terminal. Companies in residence include BP, Royal Dutch/Shell, BMW, China National Petroleum, Hutchison Whampoa, SinoChem, COSCO, and a growing number of other World Top 500 Enterprises.

Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport saw the number of operational airlines increase to 32 in the summer of 2021, with 2,074 weekly flights connecting with 80 destinations nationwide. A network layout centered on Beijing and Shanghai has taken form with high-density flights to other major cities. The airport will be able to handle 198,000 flights, 27.5 million passengers, and 104,000 tons of cargo and mail annually by 2027 when a second terminal and 25 additional aircraft parking stands are in place.

In the meantime, the construction of huge-scale transport infrastructure has allowed new space for urban development. The Guangzhou-Zhuhai Railway, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity MRT, and Airport and Gaolan Port expressways have come into service. Furthermore, the Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity MRT railway extension lines that connect Guangzhou, Foshan, Jiangmen, and Zhuhai, highway-railway Shenzhen-Zhuhai Link, and Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor sea channel are in progress.

"Two-center three-level" passenger and cargo transport hub systems connecting three logistics parks and eight logistics centers form a crisscross network that reinforces Zhuhai as a hub city on the west bank of the Pearl River Delta, according to the Integrated Transportation Hubs Layout Plan & Detailed Plan for Major Transportation Hubs of Zhuhai City.

The Beijing-Hong Kong-Macao, Taiyuan-Macao, Guangdong Western Coastal, and Jiangmen-Zhuhai expressways all pass through Zhuhai and connect the Chinese mainland with Hong Kong and Macao.

Industries

Basic industries are electronic information, appliances, energy, medicine, petrochemicals, and precision machinery. There also are two distinctive industries: printing consumables and yacht manufacture. Many listed enterprises have headquarters in Zhuhai, such as Gree Electric Appliances and Livzon Pharmaceutical Group. More than 50 Fortune Global 500 companies have investment projects in Zhuhai, including BP, Shell, Bosch, Canon, Flextronics International Ltd, Philips, CNOOC, SINOPEC, AVIC, and Shenhua Group.

Talent resources & policies

Ten institutes of higher learning have campuses or colleges in Zhuhai: Sun Yat-Sen, Ji'nan, Beijing Normal, and Zunyi Medical universities; Beijing Institute of Technology, Guangdong Polytechnic of Science & Technology, United International College (jointly run by Beijing Normal and Hong Kong Baptist universities), Zhuhai College of Science & Technology, Zhuhai City Polytechnic, and Zhuhai Art College.

The Zhuhai Talent Program, launched in April 2018, is considered the most forward-looking policy package in Zhuhai history. A generous government grant of 6.7 billion yuan ($947 million) -- unprecedented in the Pearl River Delta and even the whole country -- is provided to attract various talents over five years. Specified are 16 measures focusing on introduction, cultivation, evaluation, and stimulation of talent, as well as support for innovation, entrepreneurship, and service.

Service & Efficiency

Among 21 Guangdong prefecture-level cities, Zhuhai had the most satisfactory public services in 2020, according to a report by the Guangdong Provincial Situation Research Center.

The time needed to process 1,287 municipal administrative affairs has been cut by 94.91 percent, and 92.87 percent can be dealt with instantly. Meanwhile, 99 percent of government affairs can be concluded with one visit and 98 percent may be handled online. Residents and enterprises can process 1,125 items using the mobile service Yue Sheng Shi and Yue Shang Tong, 1,542 items without presenting related certificates, and 250 items within seconds.

In total, 2,268 government services can be handled throughout the city, including the top 200 items most frequently processed by residents, and 972 services can be processed at 152 bank outlets.