Liu Lei, He Linping, People’s Daily
Traveling among China’s Macao, Hong Kong and Guangdong province within a day in an unrushed manner –it only existed in imagination. However, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is turning this into reality.
The above-mentioned is the daily routine of CaiYuanbo, a young entrepreneur who goes to and from Macao, Hong Kong and Guangdong on a daily basis.
He always departs Macao at 11:00 amand haslunches with business partners at the central business district of Hong Kong, and then heads to his office at the Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley(Inno Valley HQ), a startup incubator in Guangdong’s Zhuhai for meetings with his employees from Chinese mainland and Macao. After all this, he would return Macao to meet clients.
“The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has opened up a new world for entrepreneurs and generated unlimited opportunities,” said Cai.
The man, in his thirties, started a company at the Inno Valley HQ this year, and has gained several hundred thousand registered users on a tourism mobile application he developed with his partners.
Standing by the Pearl River and the South China Sea, the Greater Bay Area consists ofHong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), MacaoSAR and nine cities in the Pearl River Delta, such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
The area, which covers a total area of 56,000 square kilometers, had a combined population of approximately 70 million as of the end of 2017.It is one of the most open and economically vibrant regions in China.
TheGreater Bay Area is developed under the conditions of one country, two systems, three customs territories and three currencies, without any precedents both domestically and internationally.
Therefore, for the area, how to bring into play the comprehensive advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, innovate institutions and mechanisms, and promote the circulation of production factors within the framework of the “one country, two systems” policy, the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Macao Basic Law has become one of the most important and urgent issues.
On Sept. 23, 2018, the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link opened to traffic. One month later, the cross-sea bridge connecting Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macao also opened. Besides, the Nansha Bridge, which links Guangzhou and Dongguan, started official operation on April 2, 2019.
So far, four out of the total six passages planned along the east and west banks of the Pearl River estuary have been completed and open to traffic.
Infrastructural development is further strengthened in the area.For instance, large-scale boundary crossings such as the Liantang-Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point connecting Shenzhen and Hong Kong and the new Guangdong-Macao border access (Qingmao Boundary Control Point) are accelerating their construction.
Guangdong is also building a rapid inter-city rail transport network, striving to reduce the travelling time among major cities within the Greater Bay Area to one hour or less.
Qianhai of Shenzhen and Hengqin of Zhuhai have piloted the Hong Kong engineering construction model and professional qualifications are gradually mutually recognized among the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.
A financial convenience framework has been established and cross-border mobile payment is now available.Meanwhile, insurance products bought in Hengqinarenow effective in Macao.
Such connectivity has facilitated the efficient flow of factors such as logistics, capital and information, and enhanced communication within the Greater Bay Area.
Hong Kong and Macao boast world-class universities and R&D capabilities to the forefront of global technological innovation while the Pearl River Delta has the world’s most complete manufacturing system and industrial chain which make it more adaptive to the market, said Li Zexiang, a professor with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Li believessuch university-industry cooperation at the Greater Bay Area is sure totrigger chemical reaction and further spur innovation.
Most of the world’s famous bay areas are global innovation highlands. To build the Greater Bay Area into a first-rate and competitive bay area, the priority is to highlight the vital role of innovation and construct it as an international science and technology innovation center.
Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao need to promote innovation in technology, industry and system based on local conditions, outline the blueprint for future industrial research and development, stimulate the free flow of innovation elements, gather global high-end technology resources, and build the Greater Bay Area into a land of high-tech innovation.
A series of cooperative platforms are blooming in the Greater Bay Area, such as the Guangzhou campus of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone and the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao.
TCL Corp, a Chinese multinational electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong province, has jointly established a research laboratory with the University of Hong Kong and signed strategic cooperation agreements with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Chinese University of Hong Kong just one month after the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Bay Area was inked.
At present, Hong Kong and Macao residents do not need to apply for employment permitsbefore they go to the mainland for work.
Besides, in the free trade zones of Guangdong’s Nansha, Qianhai and Hengqin, high-level personnel from Hong Kong and Macao now enjoy the same income tax rate as they do back home.
Thanks to such favorable policies, more and more young people from Hong Kong and Macao are starting up businesses in the mainland.
On satellite night view of the Earth,the Greater Bay Area is one of the brightest areas. A science and technology innovation corridor gathering innovative resources is emerging in the area, including the Xili Lake International Science and Education Zone, the Songshan Lake Xbot Park, the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and the Guangzhou Science City.
With the increasing number of innovation platforms, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have actively attracted and connected global innovation resources, and worked closer to cultivate a number of world-class industrial clusters to enhance economic innovation and competitiveness.
The photo shows the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (Offered by Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Authority)
粤港澳大湾区建设迈出坚实脚步
人民日报记者刘磊贺林平
开着一辆粤港澳三地牌照的私家车，上午11时多从澳门的家中出发，驶上港珠澳大桥，12时准时到达香港中环，和一位约好的拍档喝午茶；午饭后，前往珠海横琴澳门青年创业谷，坐进公司会议室，召集来自内地、澳门的员工开会；讨论完项目方案，再回澳门见一个客户……
“粤港澳大湾区建设打开了一片创业新天地，机遇无限。”结束忙碌的一天，蔡渊博感慨。30多岁的他，今年进驻珠海横琴新区创业后，和伙伴们开发了一款深度旅游APP，已有注册用户十几万。
依珠江，傍南海，香港特别行政区、澳门特别行政区和广东省广州市、深圳市等珠三角九市串珠成链。粤港澳大湾区总面积5.6万平方公里，2017年末总人口约7000万人，是中国开放程度最高、经济活力最强的区域之一。
粤港澳大湾区建设涉及一国、两制、三个关税区、三种货币，无论是国际、国内都没有可资借鉴的经验。如何在“一国两制”方针和基本法框架内，发挥粤港澳综合优势，创新体制机制，促进要素流通，成为大湾区面临的最重要、最紧迫的课题之一。
2018年9月23日，广深港高铁香港段正式通车；2018年10月23日，港珠澳大桥正式开通，飞架香港、澳门、珠海三地；2019年4月2日，南沙大桥通车。至此，珠江口东西两岸地区规划建设的6条公路通道，4条已经建成通车；与香港连接的莲塘/香园围口岸，与澳门连接的粤澳新通道等大型跨境基建项目，也都在加快建设；广东还加快建设“轨道上的珠三角”，力争实现大湾区主要城市间1小时通达……基础设施互联互通加快推进。
专业资格互认深入推进，深圳前海、珠海横琴试行香港工程建设模式；湾区共享金融便利框架建成，跨境移动支付已经打通，粤澳两地保险业在珠海横琴率先试点实现“两地保险、一地购买”……
“硬联通”“软连接”竞相发力，助力物流、资金流、信息流等要素便捷高效流动，更助力粤港澳大湾区的“心相通”。
“大湾区范围内的香港、澳门，有国际一流高校，有紧贴全球科技创新前沿的基础研发能力；而相依相傍的珠三角，有全世界最完整的制造业体系和产业链优势，孵化转化和市场应用能力强。”香港科技大学教授李泽湘认为，两相结合，就能激发出产学研协同创新的“化学反应”。
世界上著名的湾区大多都是全球创新高地。突出创新引领，加快国际科技创新中心建设，是粤港澳建设富有活力和国际竞争力的一流湾区的重中之重。
三地因地制宜推进科技、产业、体制等创新工作，超前布局未来产业研发体系，促进创新要素自由流动，集聚全球高端科技要素资源，打造科技创新高地。
香港科技大学（广州）校区、深港科技创新合作区、横琴粤澳合作中医药科技产业园……一系列深度合作发展平台，正在粤港澳大湾区内生长。从惠州走向世界的TCL集团，在大湾区建设框架协议签订仅1个月后，就与香港大学成立联合实验室，与香港科技大学、香港中文大学签署了战略合作协议。
港澳居民来内地就业无需再办理就业证；港澳高层次人才在广州南沙、深圳前海、珠海横琴三个自贸片区享受港人港税、澳人澳税；给港澳居民颁发内地居住证……在一系列优惠政策的吸引下，越来越多的港澳青年，正投身内地创业。
在世界夜景卫星图上，从广州到深圳再延伸至香港、澳门，是灯光最璀璨的区域之一。如今，这里正崛起一条创新资源集聚的科技创新走廊：深圳西丽湖国际科教城、东莞松山湖国际机器人产业基地、中新广州知识城、广州科学城……创新平台连珠成串，三地加大协同力度，积极吸引和对接全球创新资源，着力共同培育一批世界级产业集群，增强经济创新力和竞争力。
港珠澳大桥图片来源：港珠澳大桥管理局
