GUANGDONG Province will team up with the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs) to build Hengqin and Qianhai cooperation zones with high standards, promote the zones’ implementation of major policies, projects and reforms, and ensure the realization of blueprints made by the Central authorities.

At a news conference organized by the Guangdong Provincial Government Information Office on Friday, Governor Ma Xingrui said the province is formulating overall plans for the two zones’ development and will introduce more reform measures and expedite the construction of a new system for open economy to give the two cooperation zones full experimentation as the window of opening up.

“We will speed up to lay out a batch of key industries and innovative projects to enhance the competitiveness of the two cooperation zones and create quality environments for people to live and do businesses there,” Ma said.

The conference was held after the announcements of two new plans for further developing a Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation zone and for building a Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, respectively.

“We are confident to take the main responsibility for Hengqin’s development along with the Macao SAR, and hope Shenzhen and Hong Kong to strengthen cooperation in Qianhai’s development. Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will make respective contributions to construct new development patterns, promote the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and employment for youth from the SARs, and encourage young people from the SARs to start up businesses in the zones,” Ma said.

At the news conference, Lin Keqing, executive vice governor of Guangdong, said the provincial government will unveil measures to promote the construction of the two zones.

“The construction of the two cooperation zones will focus on decentralization and empowerment, and innovation in rule of law, which will invigorate the two cooperation zones’ vitality,” Lin said.

The zones’ construction will leverage the advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to promote synergistic development with the SARs; stress institutional innovations to construct a high-level new system for open economy, stress livelihood integration to build premium life circles and stress highly efficient connectivity to innovate the zones’ management mechanisms.

In responding to questions from the media, Zheng Renhao, director of Guangdong Development and Reform Commission and director of the GBA office, said Guangdong will focus on the zones’ outstanding industries and niche markets based on their existing resources and Guangdong and Macao’s development foundation, and plan systematically to ensure Macao’s long-term prosperity and stability.

“We will invite investors and enterprises from Macao to settle down and increase the presence of real economy, and offer more options for Macao people to start up business, work and do business there,” Zheng answered regarding the Hengqing cooperation zone.

Shenzhen will systematically consider the industrial, functional and spatial layouts after the Qianhai cooperation zone has been expanded under the plan.

“We will guarantee that a third of the newly added land for industrial use will be reserved for Hong Kong-based or Hong Kong-invested companies to support the SAR’s economic expansion,” Shenzhen Mayor Qin Weizhong said at the news briefing.

“The Qianhai plan has focused on expansion, opening up and reform. Shenzhen has proposed an implementation plan consisting of 44 measures that cover 12 aspects,” Qin said. (Han Ximin)