Forum themed on Greater Bay Area kicked off in Shenzhen

A cooperation forum, themed on jointly building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, was held in Qianhai of Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province on Aug 2.

The Greater Bay Area is composed of nine cities in Guangdong province (Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhuhai, Zhaoqing, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Huizhou), as well as Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

The forum not only focused on the development and opening up of Qianhai, but also featured in-depth discussions on how to further enhance cooperation among major cities of the Greater Bay Area.

About 800 guests from domestic and foreign governmental agencies, financing institutions, key enterprises, social organizations, as well as scientific research institutions attended the forum.

Huang Liuquan, deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, said at the forum that construction of the Greater Bay Area has been carried out in a comprehensive way, with a number of policies and measures introduced to facilitate the development of the region, while upholding the "one country, two systems" principle.

Hong Kong's Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po stated that Hong Kong's positioning in the Greater Bay Area is as an international financial and shipping trade centers, an aviation hub, a global offshore renminbi business hub, as well as international asset management and risk management centers. Hong Kong will promote the coordinated development of the region through a rational division of labor with its sister cities in the region.

Shenzhen has been taking the development of the Greater Bay Area as a great opportunity and platform to boost its reform and opening up. It has made great efforts to the construction of the region, noted Liu Qingsheng, deputy mayor of Shenzhen, at the forum.

The Qianhai and Shekou Area of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, adhering to the principles of "relying on Hong Kong, serving the Chinese mainland, and facing the world," will be built as the new international city center of the Greater Bay Area, according to Liu.

To date, nearly 12,000 Hong Kong enterprises have been registered at the Qianhai and Shekou Area, with a total registered capital of more than 1.2 trillion yuan ($172.95 billion). In the first half of the year, the actual utilization of foreign capital accounted for about 60 percent of Shenzhen's total and 20 percent of Guangdong's total. It has been considered as an important platform to promote the development of the Greater Bay Area.