Author: Yang Qiurong, Research Fellow, Center for Hong Kong and Macao Studies

Editor’s Note: Integrating into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area and deepening the cooperation with other cities in the Bay Area will boost Hong Kong’s economy.

City clusters are a critical platform enhancing the national competitiveness and regional influence. New York, Tokyo and London are influential cities in the world primarily because of their competitiveness and influence. Integrating into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao city cluster will effectively alleviate risks and challenges troubling Hong Kong today, such as economic imbalance and the lack of innovation. Since the economic exchanges and trade between Mainland China and the rest of world is increasingly closer and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area provides a new chance to reposition its function, Hong Kong should leverage on its unique and inherent advantages.

How can Hong Kong effectively integrate into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area? Firstly, Hong Kong should capitalize on its advantage in international resources to promote economic opening-up and reasonable industrial distribution within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area. Hong Kong should also coordinate with other cities in the Bay Area and conduct innovation in cross-border finance so as to advocate the coordinated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao financial sector. Moreover, Hong Kong should strengthen its role as a super-connector in terms of science, technology, logistics, and capital to improve the innovation system of the Bay Area. Hong Kong should, in addition, leverage on its high-end professional services which will be beneficial for the internationalization of enterprises in the Bay Area.