China advances Greater Bay Area building in Guangzhou's Nansha

BEIJING -- China has detailed measures to promote the development of Nansha District in the city of Guangzhou, in a bid to deepen comprehensive cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and expand the high-standard opening-up.

The Nansha region will improve its technological innovation mechanism, public services and business environment, said Guo Lanfeng, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission during a briefing on Friday.

By 2025, the region will seek to deepen industrial cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao and boost public services concerning business startups, education and health care, according to a guideline released by the State Council, China's cabinet.

The guideline features synergetic development between the Nansha region and Hong Kong and Macao, and greater opening up in the GBA, Guo said.

The guideline stated that, by 2035, major advancements will emerge in local innovation and industrial transformation systems, as well as the working and living environments, while the number of Hong Kong and Macao residents in Nansha is expected to increase significantly.

While improving the region's business environment and expanding high-standard opening-up, China will make solid efforts to build Nansha into a key platform to facilitate comprehensive cooperation in the GBA, the guideline said.

It added that the Nansha region will roll out measures to foster high-tech industries, support youth in business startups, improve global shipping and logistics, and facilitate regulatory convergence in the GBA.

The latest move came as China has been pushing forward the development of Nansha, Macao's neighboring district Hengqin and Shenzhen's Qianhai, since an outline development plan for the GBA was unveiled in February 2019.

"Hengqin focuses on serving Macao while Qianhai seeks to support Hong Kong," Guo said.

He noted all the three regions aim to deepen the GBA's integration through exploration in key industries, thus expanding the development space of Hong Kong and Macao and sustaining their social and economic development.

The Nansha region has gained growth impetus from the policy stimulus. In 2021, the Nansha region's GDP topped 200 billion yuan (about 30 billion U.S. dollars), with a total of 223 projects invested by the world's top 500 companies.

More than 2,700 Hong Kong and Macao enterprises have settled in the district while the investment value amounted to 117 billion U.S. dollars, official data showed.

The Nansha area will leverage its resources in linking domestic and international markets to enhance the GBA's advantages in international cooperation and competition, Guo added.