The development of the Greater Bay Area is a key strategic planning in the country's development blueprint, and will have a great significant role in the country's implementation of its innovation-driven development plan. How to give full play to the comprehensive advantages of the three places, promote the deeper integration of the region and the coordinated development of the regional economy, is an important issue in the first year of the "14th Five-Year Plan". In view of this, the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute of Lingnan University, the Institute of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Development Studies of Sun Yat-sen University, and Centre for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Studies of the University of Macau jointly organized the “2021 International Conference on Global Bay Areas Development: Regional Cooperation and Innovation-Driven Development”, which was held on 23 October in Guangzhou while plenary sessions were held in Hong Kong and Macau regions.
This conference was attended by Mr. Chen Chunsheng, Secretary of the Party Committee of Sun Yat-sen University, Mr. Xi Junjian, Director of Hong Kong and Macau Research Institute of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr. Andrew Yao Cho-fai, Deputy to the National People’s Congress and Chairman of the Council of Lingnan University, as well as Prof. Hu Weixing, Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Macau. All of them delivered welcome speeches to the attendees of the conference. Nearly a hundred experts and scholars from the United States, Japan, Europe, Hong Kong, Macau, and the Mainland China shared their thoughts and ideas on how the Greater Bay Area can learn from various international bay areas’ experiences.
Professor Ho Lok Sang, Director of the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute of Lingnan University, said in his keynote speech that Chinese culture is an important cornerstone of national development and the culture of the Greater Bay Area. He suggested that the Greater Bay Area should allow the coexistence of Chinese culture (as the mainstream culture) and other cultures, and build a centre for culture exchange and cooperation. Associate Professor Lam Tai Wei of Soka University pointed out that Hong Kong should make use of its own advantages, such as its legal system, finance, professional services, trade services, logistics capabilities, and real estate development, to cooperate with ASEAN countries to promote the Belt and Road initiative and the development of the Greater Bay Area.
The sessions in Hong Kong covered the fields of society, culture and education, economy, science and technology. There were eight speakers who attended, including: Professor Huang Ping, Vice President of the Chinese Association of Hong Kong & Macao Studies, Dr. WONG Yau-kar, Deputy to the National People’s Congress and Chairman of the Council of The Education University of Hong Kong, Mr. Nicholas Kwan, Director of Research of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Dr. Wang Chunxin, Head of Policy and Economic Research at Bank of China (Hong Kong) , Dr. ZHENG Wan-tai, Associate Director (Executive) of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prof. YANG Chun, Professor of Department of Geography at the Hong Kong Baptist University, Mr. Stephen WONG, Senior Vice President and Executive Director of Public Policy Institute of Our Hong Kong Foundation, and Dr. CHOW Man-kong, Associate Director of the Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute at Lingnan University.
During the session, Prof. Huang Ping mentioned that in the new era, the world has shifted from a unipolarity to a multipolarity state, and the influence of China's participation in world affairs is increasing. In this context, the Greater Bay Area has great potential for development. It is not only vital to China's economic development and transformation, but it can also stand out from the international bay area and exert greater international influence. Therefore, the Greater Bay Area needs to adhere to a high-quality and high-level development path of openness and technological innovation, overcome the institutional differences with in the region, and thereby achieve a win-win situation by complementing each other's strengths.
Mr. Nicholas Kwan discussed the advantages of the Greater Bay Area and the direction of future cooperation from the perspective of the San Francisco Bay Area. He pointed out that the “One country, two systems” and its openness are the advantages of the Greater Bay Area. In the future, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Greater Bay Area can specifically work on in-depth cooperation in areas including biopharmaceuticals, clean energy, financial technology, and health services.
Dr. Wang Chunxin gave a detailed analysis on the development of the science and innovation industry in the global Bay Areas. He believes that Hong Kong has top-notch basic science and technology, as well as comparative advantages in financial services and business environment; however, the development of Hong Kong is still relatively slow and hence need to cooperate with other cities in the Greater Bay Area.
Dr. Zheng Wan-tai, Prof. Yang Chun, Mr. Wong Stephen and Dr. Chow Man-kong, also delivered their insights on Hong Kong’s Chinese medicine transactions, Chinese electronics companies’ cross-border investments and production networks in Vietnam, Hong Kong and Shenzhen’s biotechnology, and the comparison between the Greater Bay Area and the New York Bay Area’s talent policies.
As the co-host of the Hong Kong session, Ms. Wang Jun, Deputy Director-General and a first-level inspector of the Research Department at the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, expects that Hong Kong’s think tanks should embark on public policy research and build a bridge between citizens and the government, thereby contributes to enriching the practice of “One Country, Two Systems” in Hong Kong.