THE official operation of the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which started Sep. 23, means that it takes only 14 minutes to travel from Hong Kong to Shenzhen Futian CBD.

This is not only good news for Hong Kong, but also for Futian, for it facilitates the process of turning the district into a world-class business environment.

Futian is the next station after passengers board the cross-border high-speed train in Hong Kong. To reach Hong Kong, all the passengers from the mainland have to pass Futian.

The Futian station is located in Futian CBD, next to Civic Center and Shopping Park. It is surrounded by Metro lines 1, 2, 3, 4 and 11.

In the core area of the Futian CBD, there is the 270,000-square-meter underground commercial street Link City, which is 663 meters long. It connects the underground part of the Convention and Exhibition Center and Shopping Park metro stations. With a total of 19 exit and entry points, it is also connected with various shopping malls including COCO Park and grade-A office buildings.

With the launch of the cross-border high-speed railway, the coming of the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday, Link City offered many promotions with discounts and attracted a lot of customers.

COCO Park, home to more than 200 domestic and international brands, also attracted numerous foodies over the vacation. Huaqiangbei also welcomed an increasing number of visitors during the festivals. Many merchants offered eye-catching promotions to attract customers.

To take advantage of the operation of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link, the Futian government has drafted an action plan to promote the central business circles in Shenzhen, which aims to create a quality business environment and an international consumption center through six projects, six events and four campaigns.

The six projects include the “Central Axis Cloud Corridor” construction project, a transport and space environment improvement project, a landscape lighting improvement project, a city environment “clean, beautiful and quality” project, the music and literature four gardens project and the culture experience highland project.

The six events include one photography competition, one foodie event, a carnival in the central business circle, one walled village custom event, a music festival in Futian CBD and a shopping activity. (Chen Xiaochun)