Panel urged to coordinate development

A Guangzhou-based think tank suggests establishing an administrative committee led by the central government and joined by the three local governments for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development.

The unique situation in the bay area, which includes two political systems, and three different legal currency and customs systems, calls for the central government to fill an important role in the region's development, said Chen Guanghan, deputy dean of the Institute of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao Development Studies of Sun Yat-sen University.

A cooperative mechanism among the government, the corporate sector and the society is necessary, with the relationship of the government and the market in synergizing regional development to be properly addressed, Chen said. In support, he cited a development report on the bay area issued by his institute on Monday.

The role of the market in distributing regional resources should be supported, with the free flow of productive factors in the region and rational industrial division to be promoted, he said.

Due to differences in the systems in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao with a coordinating procedure yet to be fully developed, further coordination and cooperation have met impediments.

The adjustment in the administrative procedure has become an urgent issue, which means employing multigovernance instead of merely making decisions on individual issues, said Liu Yungang, a professor at Sun Yat-sen University's School of Geography and Planning.

He suggested such a multigovernance body to be located in the Nansha Area of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone, which lies at the center of the bay area.

Consisting of nine cities in the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao, it is the world's fourth major bay area following those around New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, with the highest per capita GDP among three Chinese city clusters. The plan for the bay area is expected to be issued later this year.

Chen's institute also suggests an international business environment be built in the bay area, with greater and mutually benefiting infrastructure connectivity, higher innovation capacity, a more diversified and synergized industrial system, and quality living space.

The institute also issued a sustainable development index for the cities in the bay area and a case study report on Hong Kong and Macao youths' entrepreneurial efforts on the Chinese mainland.

Compared with their predecessors, the Hong Kong and Macao youths who have started their business on the Chinese mainland hold higher academic backgrounds, are engaged in sectors with higher technology and provide products and services with higher added value, said Zhang Guangnan, assistant dean of the institute.

They have been attracted by the world manufacturers and world market advantage of the Chinese mainland and bank on their international networks.

On their challenges, Zhang said the policy support from the local governments should be better communicated and more tailor-made to facilitate entrepreneurship of Hong Kong and Macao youths on the mainland.