Staff Reporter and GD Today
The regulations for promoting the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will take effect on March 1, according to a press conference held by the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress yesterday.
The zone is also colloquially known in Chinese as in-depth cooperation zone.
The regulations cover eight chapters consisting of a total of 66 articles, covering six aspects, namely 1) the zone’s administration system, 2) its planning, construction and management, 3) industrial development, as well as 4) the facilitation of Macau residents’ living and working in the zone, 5) the promotion of the integration between Hengqin and Macau, and 6) legal protection.
In terms of accelerating Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, the regulations detail how to develop sci-tech R&D and high-end manufacturing, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), cultural and tourism industries, the MICE sector, and commerce and trade, as well as modern finance.
In order to better align with Macau’s public service and social security system, the regulations also put forward a series of measures on education, medical care, social services and transport, such as the Macau New Neighbourhood (MNN) project and schooling for Macau residents’ children in Hengqin.
The MNN project is a residential project in Hengqin under construction consisting of 27 residential towers. Its residential units are earmarked for certain eligible groups of Macau residents to purchase. The project, which is slated to be completed in the second half of this year, also features commercial facilities as well as various social service and community facilities.
According to the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress, the regulations specify the responsibilities of the zone’s executive committee and delegates powers to the greatest extent possible to allow the zone to fully carry out reforms and achieve its development.
The regulations will provide a more comprehensive and concrete legal basis for the administration and development of the zone as well as supporting Guangdong and Macau in improving the new mechanism of mutual discussion, joint construction, joint administration, and shared benefits.
The regulations also aim to ensure a strong legal underpinning to the development of the zone, promote long-term prosperity and stability in Macau and better integrate Macau into the overall development of the country, according to Zhu Wei, deputy director-general of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission.
Moving forward, the zone will introduce more support measures and policies in line with the new regulations to boost the zone’s key industries, said Ng Chi Kin, deputy director of the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, said at yesterday’s press conference in Guangzhou.
The Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone’s top decision-making body is its administrative committee, which is jointly headed by Guangdong Governor Wang Weizhong and Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng.
The zone’s executive committee, which is run under the administrative committee, is the body tasked with the zone’s daily functioning and execution of duties. The executive committee is headed by Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Lei Wai Nong.
The zone’s administrative and executive committees consist of officials delegated by the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government and the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government.
Zhuhai’s Hengqin Island is connected to Macau’s Cotai via the 1,756-metre-long Lotus Flower Bridge. The ongoing Light Rail Transit (LRT) project connecting Hengqin and Cotai is slated to be completed next year.
The regulations for promoting the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone, which will take effect on March 1, were passed in the 48th session of the Standing Committee of the 13th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress on January 9.
MSAR govt statement
Meanwhile, the MSAR government said yesterday that it welcomes the promulgation of the regulations for promoting the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone, according to a Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) statement.
The GCS statement pointed out that the Master Plan of the Development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, which was announced in September 2021, stipulates the need for drawing up specific regulations on the management of the zone with the aim of providing institutional protection for the zone’s long-term development.
The GCS statement said that the promulgation of the new regulations will provide a strong legal basis for the effective implementation of the goals outlined in the master plan.
In addition, the GCS statement said, the promulgation will facilitate the development of new industries that promote Macau’s appropriate economic diversification, help construct a “new home” that makes it more convenient for Macau residents to live and work in the zone, set up a high-standard and open system on the integration between Hengqin and Macau, and support Guangdong and Macau in improving the new mechanism of mutual discussion, joint construction, joint administration, and shared benefits.
Officials of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress as well as other officials from the provincial government hold a press conference in Guangzhou yesterday about the new regulations for promoting the development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. – Photo courtesy of Southcn.com
