Hong Kong, Macao, Guangdong encouraged to join forces
The Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and South China's Guangdong Province are encouraged to "jointly develop new advantages" to navigate the international market, according to a framework agreement signed by their local governments and the National Development and Reform Commission(NDRC).
Details of the agreement, signed on Saturday, were disclosed by the nation's top economic planning agency on its official website late Monday.
The agreement was signed to promote the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, a government initiative to boost the development of Hong Kong and Macao as well as a cluster of cities in the affluent Pearl River Delta.
According to the agreement, Hong Kong and Macao are encouraged to give full play to their advantages and strengthen cooperation with countries and regions along the route of the "Belt and Road" initiative in areas like trade, infrastructure network, finance and environmental issues.
Hong Kong's overseas trade slumped 0.7 percent year-on-year to $974 billion in 2016. Its major trading partners were the Chinese mainland, the EU and the US.
Macao's overseas trade reached 81 billion yuan ($11.92 billion) in 2016, down 6 percent year-on-year, data from Macao's Statistics and Census Service showed.
The Greater Bay Area will also help boost the economic interaction among Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland. For instance, the governments will implement signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement as well as other relevant agreements between Hong Kong, Macao and the mainland to facilitate the exchange of people and goods.
Residents in Hong Kong and Macao are also encouraged to invest, work or start businesses in Guangdong, the agreement said.
Hong Kong as an international aviation center will also lead other cities in the Greater Bay area to build world-level airports and port groups.
Infrastructure projects that will facilitate regional transportation, such as the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, will also proceed under the initiative.
The Greater Bay Area will also build an international technology innovation center and a quality living cycle, the agreement noted.
Ma Huateng, CEO of Chinese technology giant Tencent Holdings, said during a forum on June 20 that the Greater Bay Area should be a window for "going out" and a bridge for "coming in."
