Thirty measures were recently launched by the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin to ensure stable local economic growth.

Financial service entities will offer more support for real economic development. Financing guarantee agencies will give more financing credits to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in Hengqin, while preferential policies supporting SMEs in financing development will be released.

Enterprises in Hengqin will receive guidance in getting listed on domestic or overseas stock exchanges for financing and are supported to issue bonds in Macao. Foreign and social capital are welcomed to participate in major industrial development in the Cooperation Zone.

Prosperous Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin [Photo courtesy WeChat account: hengqinzaixian2021]

Construction will advance on a batch of major projects, including the Cooperation Zone's first-tier and second-tier customs surveillance sites, as well as a smart checkpoint public service platform. Transportation infrastructure projects, such as the Hezhou-Hengqin section of the Guangzhou-Zhuhai (Macao) High-Speed Railway, will be sped up.

A new-type electrical power system will be built in Hengqin, while the application of distributed photovoltaic power generation and energy storage technology will be promoted. Public service facilities will be further optimized to ensure supply of basic livelihood facilities in Hengqin.

Moreover, major industrial projects that are forward-looking and strategic will be introduced to Hengqin as a way to cultivate new industries. The third Hengqin Sci-tech Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition will be held to create a strong innovation and entrepreneurship atmosphere. 

The Hengqin-based Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Science & Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation Between Guangdong and Macao is expected to forge better paths of development, while relevant supportive policies on the industrial development of biomedicine and big health industries will be released.

Efforts will be made in cultivating next-generation internet new business forms, such as the metaverse, while the technical application will be strengthened in fields like robots, artificial intelligence, inductors, and the internet of vehicles. 

In terms of simplifying examination and approval procedures for more efficient service capacity, industrial projects will have to pay zero fees before they receive approvals for construction and are supported to start construction right after obtaining land use permits.

The operation costs of market entities will be further lowered. For example, industrial spaces and offices in Hengqin will have lower rents, while enterprises and individual business operators in the Cooperation Zone will receive subsidies on commercial electricity, water, and heating use. Coupons on consumption and service will be released, while a series of cultural tourism promotion events will be held.

Start-ups and individual business operators meeting certain requirements will receive a one-year free legal service, while operation subsidies will also go to those opening new shipping routes and passenger terminals.