Located in the Pearl River Delta of South China, the Guangdong-Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area is an agglomeration of cities and special administrative regions which serve as a must path for the routes leading to countries along the Belt and Road. The area is adjacent to the Beibu Gulf Economic Zone, southeast Asia and the vast central China urban agglomeration as well. It is a major international land and maritime corridor linking the hinterland of China and facing the ASEAN countries.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong and Macao Greater Bay Area comprises cities of “9+2”, that is Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing, Shenzhen, Dongguan, Huizhou, Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Jiangmen as well as two SARs of Hong Kong and Macao. Yet the positioning of each city is different.
City or SAR VS Development Goal
Hong Kong -- global financial center and logistics center
Shenzhen -- international innovation service center
Guangzhou -- three international strategic hubs
Dongguan -- international manufacturing service center
Foshan -- international industrial manufacturing center
Zhuhai -- expanding bridgehead and the innovation plateau
Zhongshan -- state-level advanced manufacturing base
Macao -- world tourism leisure center
Huizhou -- ecological tour of "green city", taking ecological responsibility of the Greater Bay Area
Jiangmen -- state-level advanced manufacturing base
Zhaoqing -- agglomeration area of upgrading traditional industries
Supported by advanced manufacturing, modern service and leading emerging industries, the area is positioned to become the world's innovation and development highlands, the most dynamic area in the world’s economy, the world famous high-quality living quarters, the world civilization exchange and mutual learning place and the demonstration zone of deepening reform in the country.
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is most likely to become a vital giant portal for the Belt and Road, for that the area is a geographical node closest to the market along the route among all the urban agglomerations in China, with the most convenient infrastructure, developed supply chain network and domestically leading position in electronics, construction, energy, finance, telecommunications etc.
Additionally compared with other domestic areas, the area is in a relatively high position in the international value chain, especially considering two free ports of Hong Kong and Macao and Free Trade Zone (Guangdong) including Qianhai, Nansha and Hengqin. For a long time ahead, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is expected to be an important regional development priority in China. It is likely that four sorts of investment opportunities may be produced.
The first is connection of traffic infrastructure. Generally, the improvement of traffic technology facilities is the basis for free flow of resource elements. As the main direction of traffic construction in the area is building of cross-border transport infrastructure and improvement of the comprehensive transportation network connecting Hong Kong, Macao and the Chinese mainland, investors shall attach importance to the potential investment opportunities hidden in traffic infrastructure-related projects and programs.
The second sort of investment opportunities lies in construction of ports and shipping center. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is the key area of opening-up for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and Hong Kong is an international hub and shipping center. In the future, overall shipping routes planning, customs clearance facilitation level among the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao and cooperation strengthening between ports in the Pan-Pearl River Delta region are highly expectable thus investors are suggested seeking fortune in this regard.
The third may be found in regional function remolding and industrial gathering in the area. Investors are expected to explore the opportunities in the functional transformation of the area and the integration of resources brought about industrial agglomeration and industrial upgrading.
Lastly opportunities exists in upgrading of industrial cooperation. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area represents a coordinated development mode after development of more monomer cities matures. Enterprises from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao shall thus make mutual investment to jointly “go out”. Other investment opportunities may arise from the expansion of two-way flow of Renminbi, Hong Kong-centered science and technology exchanges and cooperation, intellectual property rights trade, and exhibition, commerce and traditional Chinese medicines with Macao.