Hengqin's first inclusive cross-border linkage loan, amounting to 10 million yuan ($1.54 million), became a model July 26 for Guangdong and Macao banks to support the rapid development of high-tech small, medium, and micro-tech enterprises.

The loan went to an unnamed small-sized teenage robot education enterprise. This is the first company in Hengqin New Area to receive a loan from Macao since Guangdong began an external debt facilitation pilot in March 2020.

The Macao-funded high-tech enterprise boasts a complete service system from R&D of robotic products and curriculum to the artificial intelligence education of primary and secondary students. It has hosted large robot competitions for six consecutive years. The full-scope cross-border financing quota could hardly meet the company's demands, however, due to its small net asset scale.

Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley (Inno Valley HQ) [Photo by Li Jianshu / Zhuhai Daily]

The Guangdong Branch of the Bank of China thus proposed the innovative product "Guangdong-Macao Shared Loan 2.0" to help solve the capital gap in R&D and market expansion with a low-cost external debt from the Macao Branch.

The practice allows medium, small, and micro-sized high-tech enterprises in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to draw upon financing from both domestic and foreign markets at a lower cost. It is of great significance to the fast growth of a high-tech start-up, said an enterprise executive.

The Guangdong Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange was approved for the external debt facilitation pilot in March 2020. Eligible Greater Bay Area enterprises are now entitled to a maximum external debt of $5 million.

Next, the Bank of China will further adjust its cross-border cooperation to help integrate Macao-funded enterprises into Greater Bay Area development and settlement of high-quality Chinese mainland scientific innovative enterprises in Macao.