Bay, Bay, on the Way
The Guangdonghong Kongmacao Greater Bay Area in south China is gearing up to be a worldclass city cluster
Huang Yuanhao, an entrepreneur in Shenzhen, south China’s Guangdong Province, was very happy to see that a clip of his recent interview was included in a major daily news program broadcast on China Central Television on February 18.
The piece was shown with the announcement of the release of an outline plan for the development of the GuangdongHong Kong-macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area), which incorporates nine cities in Guangdong, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing as well as the adjacent Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SAR).
Issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China’s cabinet, it is the next major regional development plan following Xiong’an New Area in the north.
The proposal—which was first introduced in the government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on March 5, 2017—has finally concretized from a concept to a plan after concerted efforts over the past two years.
The southern engine
According to the plan, by 2022, the framework for an international first-class bay area and world-class city cluster should be essentially formed. By 2035, the region should become an economic system and mode of development mainly supported by innovation, fully developing into an international first-class bay area for living, working and travel.
Located on the southern coast of China, the region has long been highlighted for its robust economic strength, distinctive geographical advantages and high concentration of key innovation factors.
As the founder of Orbbec, a startup fo- cusing on the development of 3D sensors, Huang expressed his support and optimism for further development of the city cluster and said different cities’ advantages will surely be optimized by the plan.
“Hong Kong and Macao have more advantages in talent and finance and are more internationalized,” Huang told Beijing Review. “Shenzhen has formed a complete chain for scientific and innovation industries. Dongguan and Foshan, which are both included in the plan, have mature manufacturing foundations. The plan will greatly help to optimize these resources.”
In 2013, Huang chose Shenzhen as the base for his company. “Shenzhen, as a robust innovation hub, has attracted a lot of international talent in recent years and also offers very competitive support measures in an all-around way,” Huang said. Orbbec has now developed from a small company with less than 20 people