and Tokyo respectively account for 7.8 and 4.5 percent of the US
economy and 43.7 percent of the Japanese economy.
The New York Bay Area is home to New York City, one of the
world’s largest international financial centres. The San Francisco Bay
Area comprises Silicon Valley, the largest innovation centre in the
world. The Tokyo Bay Area has the most sophisticated manufacturing
enterprises in Japan. Bay area economies have become an important
engine for both economic growth and technological innovation.
Hong Kong’s Greater Bay Area covers less than one percent of the
country’s land area and accounted for less than five percent of the total
population, generating an economic volume of 1.4 trillion US dollars
by the end of 2016.
Wang Fuqiang, head of the Industrial Planning Department at the
China Centre for International Economic Exchanges, believes that
the Greater Bay Area provides a solid and complete infrastructure
base on which to construct the international bay area and cluster of
cities, in terms of economic scale, proportion of outbound economy,
industry, urban competitiveness and the level of regional integration.
“The Greater Bay Area is operated with Chinese characteristics in
accordance with the principle of ‘One Country, Two Systems,’ [the
name of the system for governing the Chinese mainland and Hong
Kong] home to three free trade zones and three currencies [Chinese
yuan, Hong Kong dollar, Macau pataca]. Under such circumstances,
it is primarily a cooperation plan,” Wang told ChinaReport.
Wang added that cities in the Greater Bay Area mainly speak Can-
tonese, and have a similar cultural background and identity. What’s
more, he added, the area has distinct advantages in that both Hong
Kong and Macau boast a unique international business environment,
mature marketing networks, a developed service capacity, diversified
culture and a strong capacity to integrate with the global economy.
On the other hand, cities in Guangdong Province have advanced
manufacturing bases, massive domestic market demand, a rich labour
pool and the low-cost advantage.
The diversified and complementary traits of the different systems
and cities will boost cooperation in the bay area, and Hong Kong will
play its role as storefront and intermediary, helping domestic enter-A bird’s eye view of Shekou, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
Photo by VCG