Zhuhai has strengthened cooperation with Macau and Hong Kong, with its total merchandise trade (imports and exports) through Zhuhai Port (checkpoint) of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) last year up by 11.3 percent year-on-year, while cross-border vehicle traffic has surged by 70.49 percent year-on-year, Zhuhai Natural Resources Bureau Deputy Director Chen Zhen said in a speech yesterday.
Chen also said that 16 new measures were introduced to encourage young people from Hong Kong and Macau to pursue opportunities in Zhuhai. He said one of the measures was the setting-up of a cross-border credit service platform.
Yesterday’s fourth “GBA Development and Planning Summit” kicked off at the Macau World Trade Centre in Zape, aiming to build the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) into a first-class bay area and world-class city cluster full of vitality and international competitiveness, and provide a solid planning blueprint and practical guidance for enhancing the quality of life of its residents, the statement said.
Chen highlighted that in 2024 a total of 18 key measures to support and serve the construction of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin were launched, facilitating the introduction of 77 projects with the registered capital exceeding 10 billion yuan (11.2 billion patacas).
Chen added that the accelerated development of external transportation links in the cooperation zone, including the completion and opening of the road-rail dual use Jinhai Bridge, and the second phase of the Zhuhai Airport Intercity Railway, were proof of the close cooperation among three regions.
Lands and Urban Construction Bureau Director Lei Weng Leong (DSSCU) said that the “hard and soft connectivity” between Hengqin and Macau was advancing. He also pointed out that the “Macau-Hengqin Transportation Connectivity Project” has been launched, and a coordination mechanism has already been established. Lei said he hoped that the forum would generate new ideas for local integration into the GBA and deepen Hengqin-Macau collaboration, thereby enhancing Macau’s role in regional synergistic development.
The two-day forum, themed “Sectoral Synergy and City Collaborative Development”, attracted nearly 170 top industry experts, scholars, government representatives, urban planning professionals, and students from Beijing and across the GBA, which comprises nine cities in Guangdong Province and the nation’s two special administrative regions (SARs) – Hong Kong and Macau.
The forum ends today.
Zhuhai Natural Resources Bureau Deputy Director Chen Zhen addresses the 4th “GBA Development and Planning Submit” kick-off ceremony at the Macau World Trade Centre in Zape yesterday. – Photo: Ida Cheong
