Author: Guo Wanda, Executive Vice President, CDI
Editor’s Note: In the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen has a unique advantage of innovation. Shenzhen shall give a leading role to innovation and strive to build a new regional innovation system.
Shenzhen is a metropolis featured with openness and innovation. Shenzhen is home to a large number of highly competitive private businesses which focus on innovative and creative industries. Moreover, the high efficiency of Shenzhen’s government, favorable business environment, large numbers of talents have all contributed to Shenzhen’s vigorous economy. Shenzhen shall give a leading role to innovation for a better spill-over effect in promoting the shared development for other cities in the greater bay area. The following measures shall be taken: first, to build a regional innovation system featuring industry-academia collaboration research; second, to put in place an industrial chain incorporating venture capital, innovative technologies, and talents for innovation; third, to facilitate the aggregation of industries, talents and capital.
In the greater bay area, Shenzhen can foster benign competitive relationships with other core cities like Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao in the greater bay area. Open and pragmatic cooperation will be carried out between Shenzhen and Guangzhou, in particular the establishment of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor. Hong Kong is an international hub for finance, trade and shipping with sound basis for cooperation with Shenzhen in industries, talents and technology, etc. Macao is a global center for tourism and leisure, as well as a well-functioning platform for one-stop MICE services. To achieve mutually complementary cooperation, Macao should combine these strengths with Shenzhen’s strengths in internationalization.
Moreover, integrated industrial chains have been formed among Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou, and the collaborative development capitalizing on the advantages of the three cities is sure to exert positive influence on the growth of the greater bay area as a whole. The division of city functions among the three cities, together with close collaboration and partnership among industries, will help promote the Shenzhen-Dongguan-Huizhou city group. Differences in cost have made them highly complementary to each other in industrial division and city functions. A better coordination mechanism among Shenzhen, Dongguan and Huizhou will serve as an role model for other cities in the greater bay area. With the further improvement of transportation networks in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, there will be higher mobility of different economic factors, enabling Shenzhen to reach out further in the overall development of the greater bay area as a regional growth engine.
