Success of Bay Area project will lie in teamwork
The long-awaited blueprint for developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was unveiled earlier this week. The vision is to build the region into a “role model of high-quality development”. The significance of the blueprint is not only an official response to public expectations of the mega-project, but also a concrete plan to set up a Bay Area team based on three key considerations.
As the document noted, the Bay Area already possesses the fundamental conditions for it to be developed into a first-class international bay area and a world-class city cluster. However, the well-known challenge faced by the Bay Area, consisting of nine mainland cities and two special administrative regions, is collaboration of the three different and unique systems among the partners. Therefore, the formation of a working team is a vital issue which needs to be addressed.
Firstly, the blueprint is crucial in forming this team by allocating clear roles to different partners. According to the plan, the member cities are divided into two tiers, with the top one consisting of Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. This “four-dragon” leadership arrangement is essential to resolving the previous dispute about who is the “leading city” in the city cluster. Moreover, the role of each of the “four dragons” is clearly defined. Macao will be a world-class tourism and leisure center and a commerce and trade cooperation service platform between China and Lusophone countries. Guangzhou will play the role of being the national core city, while Shenzhen will focus on developing into a national innovation city.
What about Hong Kong? We are going to strengthen our role as an international finance, transportation and trade center, a global offshore renminbi business hub, an international asset management and risk management center. The central government has already showed its support for Hong Kong in these areas. In addition to this, great efforts will be made to develop Hong Kong’s innovative and technology industries. Based on this arrangement, member cities will find it much easier to leverage their own comparative advantages to lead the development of nearby regions in order to meet common interests of the Bay Area.
Secondly, the main goal is now much clearer. It is the driving force and common ground of a team consisting of members who all have different backgrounds. It provides a vision of an area which will be an excellent place to live, to travel and do business in; it will also meet international The author is research officer of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute. standards when it is showcased before nearly 70 million people. We can expect all this to be achieved when the Bay Area is well- established. It will have a world-class transport system, plenty of living space, great work opportunities, a thriving business environment and also impressive recreational areas. It will also be linked well to other cities. People will find it much more convenient to travel, work and live anywhere in the area. It will significantly improve the well-being of its residents. With a shared vision of developing the Bay Area into a quality hub for living, working and traveling, the public will be more willing to support the relevant authorities. They can all work together for the common good and shared benefits.
Last but not least, a timeline has now been set. Someone commented that the document did not provide any concrete policies and measures. But, the blueprint actually set out two stages of development: The first stage runs until 2022 and the other until 2035. By the end of the first stage, or 2022, the combined strength of the Bay Area should increase substantially, and cooperation by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao should be deeper and broadened. Moreover, the internal driving forces for development should be further enhanced in the region. By the end of the second stage, or 2035, the Bay Area should be a dynamic economic system and a mode of development — mainly supported by innovation; its economic and technological strengths should have increased vastly and its international competitiveness and influence should be further strengthened. “Deadlines make things happen”. This is so true. Deadlines are more effective than any action plan. The blueprint also provides space for member cities to work on different plans. For a think tank, the document is like a list of research topics to be examined and worked on in the future.
Cooperation and coordination will be the key to the success in the development of the Bay Area. The promulgation of the 11 chapters (amid the background of the Bay Area) — the overall requirements, the spatial layout, the plans for different fields and the implementation of these plans — signifies a new milestone in establishing a Bay Area team.
Knute Rockne, one of the American football’s most-renowned coaches, once said, “The secret is to work less as individuals and more as a team. As a coach, I play not my 11 best, but my best 11.” The central government has surely provided the best interpretation of this quote in its blueprint.