In February 2019, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council publicly released the “Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.” Over the past five years, both soft and hard connectivity within the Greater Bay Area has been continuously expanding, the science and technology innovation industry has been rapidly developing, and young talents have been gathering to create together. The world-class bay area that is suitable for living, working, and traveling is forming towards its set goals.
Over the past five years, the economic output of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has increased by 3.2 trillion yuan, surpassing 14 trillion yuan in 2023, making it one of the most open and economically dynamic regions in China. Guangdong, with the Pearl River Delta as its main front, has mobilized the entire province to advance the construction of the Greater Bay Area in depth. It supports and encourages Hong Kong and Macao to integrate into the overall national development, allowing the Greater Bay Area to continuously achieve fruitful results as a new attempt to form a fully open new pattern in the new era and a new practice to promote the development of the “One Country, Two Systems” undertaking.
The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge at dawn (photographed on December 15, 2023, by drone). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei
This “Dream Bridge” draws a circle of unity
In October 2018, the “project of the century,” the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, officially opened. This “Dream Bridge” set multiple world records while tightly connecting Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.
Nearly six years later, the crucial transportation hub of the Greater Bay Area, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor, is about to be completed. The main span of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, reaching 1,666 meters, has set several world records. Once completed and open to traffic, the travel time between Shenzhen and Zhongshan will be reduced from the current approximately two hours to around 30 minutes.
The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Railway, Guangzhou-Shanwei High-Speed Railway, and the Shantou-Shanwei High-Speed Railway from Shanwei to South Shantou have successively been completed and opened to traffic. The operating mileage of high-speed rail in Guangdong has reached 2,838 kilometers, making the goal of one-hour travel between major cities in the Greater Bay Area a reality.
In just eight months, 500,000 vehicle trips—that’s the “report card” since the official implementation of “Hong Kong Vehicles Traveling North.” The “Macao Vehicles Traveling North” policy, which took effect on January 1, 2023, and the “Hong Kong Vehicles Traveling North” policy, which began on July 1 of the same year, have made the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge even busier, witnessing the “two-way journey” between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao.
Data shows that the number of passengers entering and exiting through the Zhuhai Highway Port of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge officially surpassed 10 million on May 21 of this year, a year-on-year increase of 127.7%. This milestone was reached four months earlier than in 2023, setting the fastest record since the bridge opened.
One country, two systems, three currencies, and three customs zones—the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has no international precedent. Over the past five years, the Greater Bay Area has achieved mutual recognition of cross-border credit reporting standards and quality certification rules between Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. The “Bay Area Pass” project has been deeply implemented, the “Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect” pilot program has been running smoothly, and the “Swap Connect” policy has been implemented. The “Bay Area Standards” now cover 183 items across 32 fields, and the first batch of 15 projects under the “Bay Area Certification” has been launched.
Qianhai has established a mechanism for aligning cross-border commercial legal rules, Hengqin has created a new model for cross-border legal services between Macao and Hengqin, Nansha has innovated the education alignment mechanism with Hong Kong and Macao, and Hetao has pioneered cross-border data transactions. The 86 million residents of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are drawing the largest circle of unity within this 56,000 square kilometer world-class bay area with their life trajectories.
This is a robotic workstation developed by XtalPi Inc. in the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone (photographed on March 1, 2024). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Hong Zehua
Collaborative development in science and technology innovation in the Bay Area
In the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, XtalPi Inc. enhances the efficiency, accuracy, and applicability of AI-assisted drug research and development methods by effectively combining artificial intelligence, computer-aided drug development methods, and cloud computing for drug design.
The Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone covers an area of 3.02 square kilometers and has already attracted and advanced over 160 sci-tech innovation projects. Cutting-edge technology companies in fields such as robotics, autonomous driving, and artificial intelligence have chosen to establish their operations here. Research institutes and sci-tech innovation enterprises like the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Chip Joint Research Institute, the University of Macau’s Institute of Microelectronics, and Corerain are making significant progress in tackling key core technology projects.
In the 2023 Global Innovation Index “Technology Clusters” rankings published by the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster has ranked second globally for the fourth consecutive year. Leading with the Greater Bay Area International Science and Technology Innovation Center and the Comprehensive National Science Center, and integrating with Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong and Hengqin Guangdong-Macao as connecting points, a collaborative framework for sci-tech innovation in the Greater Bay Area, with Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong and Guangzhou-Zhuhai-Macao as the main structure, has gradually taken shape.
In 2023, the nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area had a total import and export volume of 7.95 trillion yuan, accounting for 19% of the national total. Among these, the import and export of high-tech products were particularly notable. Currently, the patent capabilities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area rank first among the world’s four major bay areas, making it a global frontier in fields such as electronic information, software, and pharmaceuticals, as well as a significant platform for global technological innovation.
The Greater Bay Area has already begun to deploy and advance future industries such as the low-altitude economy, intelligent robotics, and quantum information. A relevant official from the Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province stated that Guangdong is implementing a joint funding program for scientific and technological innovation in collaboration with Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Commission and Macao’s Science and Technology Development Fund. This program aims to support innovation entities in Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in jointly tackling key core technologies, conducting technical research, and promoting the industrialization of research outcomes.
Hengqin Financial Island in Zhuhai (photographed on November 4, 2023, by drone). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Liu Dawei
Youth collaboratively shaping the blueprint of the Bay Area
Recently, young scientists from universities such as Sun Yat-sen University, the University of Hong Kong, and Shenzhen University, focusing on cutting-edge fields like stem cells, brain-computer interfaces, and biosensors, gathered at Songshan Lake in Dongguan. They met with technology demands from Greater Bay Area enterprises, planting seeds for future industry development.
In Guangdong, the “1+12+N” innovation and entrepreneurship base system for Hong Kong and Macao youth, including Songshan Lake, has been established. This system has incubated over 4,800 projects from Hong Kong and Macao and created employment for nearly 5,500 young people from these regions.
Mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area have been approved to pilot the implementation of the talent endorsement policy for travel between Hong Kong and Macao. Six types of mainland talent, including outstanding talents, scientific research talents, and cultural and educational talents, can apply for this endorsement. By the end of last year, nearly 10,000 mainland talents had traveled to Hong Kong with this endorsement, and about 9,000 applications for travel northwards have been approved.
Against the backdrop of Guangdong’s commitment to “manufacturing as the foundation” and Hong Kong’s push for “new industrialization,” the integration of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao is accelerating. Leveraging Guangdong’s manufacturing industry clusters and Hong Kong and Macao’s innovation advantages, the Greater Bay Area’s “half-hour research circle” provides exceptional advantages for youth development.
For Chen Furong, Dean of the Research Institute (Shenzhen Futian) of City University of Hong Kong, a flash of inspiration and impulse generated in Hong Kong can be validated in Shenzhen after a thirty to forty-minute drive.
Since 2018, Dr. Ding Ke, a Ph.D. from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and founder of Shenzhen Hin Yeung Technology Co., Ltd., has led his team to achieve a full industry chain development path with “Hong Kong R&D, Shenzhen implementation, Foshan production, and nationwide sales.”
“Talent is the primary driving force for development,” said Sun Yuk-han, Secretary for the Labour and Welfare Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR Government. He expressed his hope that more young talents will come to the Greater Bay Area and move within the region, enabling the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to continuously evolve from a talent hub to an innovation hub.
Written by Hong Zehua
