Reporter Zhang Yiming
Once China's most potential city cluster, how the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area complements the advantages of the mainland and develops in a coordinated manner under the new development pattern has always been the focus of public opinion. Experts interviewed by the China Economic Times reporter believe that Hong Kong and Shenzhen are the core driving forces of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, promoting scientific and technological cooperation and industrial synergy between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and making good use of the advantages of the two places is very important for the long-term economic development of the two places and regions, which can produce a synergistic effect of "one plus one is greater than two" and create more economic benefits for China.
Development advantage
"The integrated development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong is the core driving force for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the development of Hong Kong and Shenzhen can play a core driving role in the future, but the transformation process is not easy, and the industry and economic circles need a stronger sense of greater China, of which Hong Kong can become the forefront of higher level institutional opening up." Yu Jiantuo, deputy secretary-general of the China Development Research Foundation, said in an interview with the China Economic Times.
As China enters a new stage of high-quality development, the service support of urban agglomerations to the economy continues to appear, the development of metropolitan areas and urban agglomerations will become a new driving force for China's economic growth, among several major urban agglomerations in China, the urban agglomeration in the Yangtze River Delta region has the largest economic volume, and the urban agglomeration integration level in the Pearl River Delta region is the highest, accounting for 0.57% of the country's area and bringing together 4.5% of the country's population.
Jin Jun, a partner at PwC Chinese mainland, told the China Economic Times that compared with other city clusters, the Industrial Structure of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is stronger, the volume is larger, the mechanism is more diverse and flexible, and it has inherent advantages. In terms of industrial growth, it is more suitable for the development of innovative benchmarking industries; in the cultivation of talents, most of the previous inflows of population are concentrated in intensive processing industries, with the optimization of the innovation environment, it will attract more advanced talents and exert efforts in the education and medical industries; in terms of internationalization, Hong Kong is the window of China's internationalization, and the future should not only be the physical internationalization of ports and hubs, but also the internationalization of development culture.
At present, the population, area size and economic growth rate of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have exceeded the world's other three major bay areas, including Tokyo Bay, New York Bay and San Francisco Bay, and in 2020, the total economic volume of Shenzhen and Hong Kong will exceed 5 trillion yuan, accounting for 45% of the entire Greater Bay Area.
PwC Asia Pacific & China Chairman Baiji Zhao said that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has leading industry advantages in the fields of financial services and scientific and technological innovation, and the integrated development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong is conducive to playing such a "strong and powerful alliance" role, actively promoting the two-way flow of talents, technology and capital, and working together in important technology industries to complement each other's advantages, such integrated development will surely bring core growth momentum to the Greater Bay Area.
Recently, the China Development Research Foundation and PwC released the "City of Opportunities" Series Special Chapters - Shenzhen and Hong Kong Integration, Promoting the Development of the Two Places", which regard biotechnology, new materials, new generation information technology, financial technology, new energy vehicles and new energy as six priority areas of cooperation suitable for the development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
Industry synergy
Yu Jiantuo said that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has a solid foundation for development and excellent development prospects, through forward-looking driving policies and innovative cooperation models, deep integration and cooperation in some key industry areas, which will help to play an important role in supporting the development of the industry and driving the overall development of the region.
PwC Chinese mainland and Hong Kong Market Leader Leung Wai Kin said that Shenzhen and Hong Kong are two important central cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the integrated development of Shenzhen and Hong Kong is conducive to opening up a new twin-city development model and deepening cooperation in important frontier industries. Shenzhen and Hong Kong should cooperate in various aspects at the level of "industry, education and research" in the future, the governments of the two places should study the spatial planning strategy of the land bordering the shenzhen port, the northern metropolitan area of Hong Kong should become the core area of Hong Kong's development of science and technology and the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the docking of Hong Kong's Liufushan and Hong Kong Bridge/Xiamen Village New Development Zone should be the core business district of The Northern Metropolitan Area, the Hong Kong Xintian Science and Technology City should be the economic and talent center for the development of science and technology in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and the government should consider public-private cooperation with enterprises to help share the needs of development funds. It should also be considered that the smart border will effectively promote the interconnection of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Yu Jiantuo said frankly that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of the regions with the highest level of integration in China, and it is a benchmark for the development of urban agglomerations in terms of human development and inclusiveness, and in the future, we should pay attention to how to promote regional integration, especially to narrow the gap in the region, the challenges are mainly concentrated in the northwest and eastern Guangdong regions outside the 9 core cities in the Pearl River Delta region, and we must consider how to expand the vitality of the Pearl River Delta to more regions on the basis of eliminating regional differences, and promote the Pearl River Delta region to achieve people-centered high-quality development.