Dreams and Realities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
The 36-kilometer bridge connecting Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai is one of the most ambitious projects in history. It took at least 15 years and cost nearly US$20 billion.
The Chinese government's construction of this huge project-planned to open to traffic in the next few months-aims to connect Hong Kong and Macau, once colonies of European countries, with the motherland more closely in terms of transportation, economy and spirit.
Yu Lie, deputy director of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Administration, said, "This is a major strategic project that will further deepen China's reforms and improve China's economic growth." He also introduced many technical problems encountered by his engineering team. This bridge and a new railway line costing US$11 billion to connect Hong Kong to the mainland’s vast high-speed rail network form a key part of Beijing’s plan to link the semi-autonomous Hong Kong and Macau with nine adjacent urban areas (including The super-large cities Shenzhen and Guangzhou) are integrated. The Chinese government hopes to integrate these cities into what it calls the "Greater Bay Area," as an engine of innovation and economic growth on par with San Francisco, New York and Tokyo.
An animated advertisement produced by the Hong Kong government declared that driving across the bridge to Macau will be simple and convenient. But first, it explained that drivers must obtain three separate permits from relevant authorities in Hong Kong, Macau and the Mainland, purchase special vehicle insurance for driving in the Mainland and Macau, and file these documents with the Zhuhai Municipal Government-this process It will take at least 12 working days.
The cumbersome procedures for obtaining permits underline the huge challenges Beijing faces. Currently, Beijing is seeking to integrate three different political and customs entities, as well as their very different judicial systems, tax rates, and controls on personnel, commodities, and capital.
"This policy is aimed at turning the entire region into a single market," said Arnold Cheng, head of the Greater Bay Area Affairs Office of John Swire & Sons in the United Kingdom. With more synergy and greater integration, we can make the cake bigger, and every city can benefit from it." Swire owns Hong Kong's flag carrier Cathay Pacific and owns multiple properties in the region And trading company.
Similar to Xi Jinping’s iconic “One Belt, One Road” Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s plan for the Greater Bay Area was not just to further integrate Hong Kong and Macau, which were returned to China by the United Kingdom and Portugal in the late 1990s. The Chinese government also hopes Intensify growth in one of China's most economically dynamic regions and accelerate the nationwide transition from manufacturing and exports to services and domestic demand.
The area covered by the Greater Bay Area project has a population of nearly 70 million and an economic scale of US$1.5 trillion, surpassing those of the Group of Twenty (G20) countries such as Australia, Indonesia, and Mexico. HSBC predicts that by 2025, the region's economy will nearly double to US$2.8 trillion. But to start the next phase of growth, Beijing will have to lower the barriers to the flow of people, capital, and information. The idea behind the Greater Bay Area plan is to make full use of the region’s outstanding infrastructure and expertise in finance, manufacturing, and technology by eliminating trade barriers, promoting cross-border commerce, and ultimately creating a single market.
"The government hopes to use the Greater Bay Area to narrow the (technology) gap with developed countries such as the United States and Japan," said Edmond Wu, an economics professor at South China University of Technology in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province. "There is innovation here. Culture, because Guangdong and Shenzhen have always been the cradles of China’s reforms."
The nine inland cities involved in the above-mentioned plan are located in Guangdong Province, which can be called the world's factory. Last year, it exported 670 billion U.S. dollars in goods, ranking first among all provinces in China. Guangdong is the province with the most active private enterprises among all provinces in China, and it is also the province with the most billionaires in China. There are huge industrial centers such as Dongguan and Foshan, as well as China's "Silicon Valley" Shenzhen. Dongguan and Foshan are home to many factories in the region, and Shenzhen is home to many technology giants-from drone manufacturer DJI to telecommunications equipment manufacturer Huawei (Huawei) and ZTE (ZTE), to operating WeChat ( The headquarters of WeChat's Tencent (Tencent).
The region has an extremely convenient logistics network. Three of the ten busiest container ports in the world are located here-Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen-these three cities also have busy international airports, and there are also newly constructed cities. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and high-speed railway. Both Hong Kong and Shenzhen are large financial centers. Last year, companies raised US$29 billion on the stock exchanges of the two places. The newly launched "Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect" and "Bond Connect" programs have enhanced cross-border capital flows. These plans allow mainland investors to invest in Hong Kong's capital market in a limited way, and Hong Kong investors to invest in the mainland's capital market in a limited way.
The plan for the Greater Bay Area is under the responsibility of Han Zheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee. This arrangement demonstrates the political importance of the plan to Beijing and highlights the desire to place the semi-autonomous Hong Kong under closer control of the Communist Party.
Economists at HSBC said that the Greater Bay Area is a “powerful example of how talent, capital and industrial agglomeration will promote higher value-added production and stimulate consumption to ensure long-term sustainable growth”. Swire’s Zheng Jiaju cited Cathay Pacific Airways as an example, believing that Cathay Pacific Airways can expand its passenger base in Guangdong.
A senior Hong Kong official admitted that it would be very difficult to improve the "information and capital flow" between Hong Kong and the Mainland while not letting Hong Kong lose its "uniqueness". In view of the sensitivity of this issue, the official requested anonymity.
Lawrence Ho, the head of one of Macau's six major gaming groups and a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said that for the plan to succeed, the government needs to facilitate the cross-border movement of people and capital between Hong Kong, Macau and the mainland.
The Chinese government has stated that it will remove the requirement for Hong Kong residents to obtain employment permits in the Mainland and allow them to enjoy national medical insurance and education. At the same time, Hong Kong investors proposed to build housing for Hong Kong people in Guangdong to take advantage of lower housing prices and convenient transportation. At the same time, Tencent is developing an electronic ID card, which will make it easier for Hong Kong and Macao residents to enter the mainland.
But these temporary measures may not be enough to convince many investors to come up with real money. Jens Hildebrandt, executive director of the German Chamber of Commerce in China, said: "Companies are interested in the potential of the Greater Bay Area plan. But they still haven't seen specific plans and actions."