(ECNS) - The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will play an important role in the global digital economy, according to a report by the Center for Internet Development and Governance at Tsinghua University and social media site LinkedIn.
Covering 56,000 square kilometers, the bay area consists of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR), as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province -- Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.
High-level, digital talent is concentrated in Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, which rank as world-class metropolises in terms of economy, labor force, industrial growth and urban development, according to the report.
The bay area is also home to famous universities as well as a high percentage of top-caliber professionals in manufacturing, consumer goods, and information and communications technology, laying a solid foundation for the digital economy, it was added.
Professor Chen Yibo, center director, said technology and industrial innovation in many fields such as Big Data, artificial intelligence, intelligent manufacturing and financial technology will become important driving forces in development of the bay area.
Based on a sample of some 439,000 high-level and 118,000 digital talents who are LinkedIn Chinese users, the study developed a profile of professionals working in cities across the hub.
Wang Yanping, general manager of public relations at LinkedIn, said 400 to 800 million jobs may be replaced by digital technology in future while China will make a bigger contribution to development of the world's digital economy.
