Stakeholders urge backing for ‘high-quality’ Bay Area
Guangdong-Hong KongMacao Greater Bay Area stakeholders called for more national support on Thursday after Vice-Premier Han Zheng said the project needed highquality development based on its competitive advantages.
Han — also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China’s Central Committee, the country’s highest decision-making body — made the remarks during a three-day visit to Guangdong province, which ended on Tuesday.
Noting that President Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the Bay Area plan, Han said the cluster has a relatively “high starting point”.
Zhang Yuge — director of the Center for Hong Kong and Macao Studies at the China Development Institute, a Shenzhen-based think tank — agreed. Zhang emphasized Hong Kong’s “model” role in the 11-city cluster, which contributed 12 percent national GDP in 2016 despite occupying less than 1 percent of the nation’s land.
To build a “high-quality” Bay Area, innovation must be the key, Zhang noted while seeking greater national support. This includes siting more national scientific projects in the Bay Area - drawing on Han’s vision to build the cluster into an international innovation hub.
In Shenzhen, China’s “Silicon Valley”, Han visited two innovation strongholds including the Qianhai ShenzhenHong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub — a popular choice for Hong Kong youth to start businesses on the mainland, and the ShenzhenHong Kong innovation technology special cooperation area, a 4-square-kilometer area where a batch of innovation projects were bred.
Media reports credit the hub with incubating 304 entrepreneurial teams, including 158 from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
R-Guardian, a company offering smart personal belongings, was among the six entrepreneurial teams Han visited during his tour.
Recognizing that Han’s visit is “encouraging” , R-Guardian’s founder Kuo Wai-keung still expected more national funds could be allocated to startups — especially for companies invested with capital from both Hong Kong and the mainland.