Nansha Offers Glimpse of GBA’s Commitment to Quality Development

At the heart of southern China’s Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is Nansha, which also stands next to the two special administrative regions (SARs). A recently released Master Plan of Guangzhou Nansha on Deepening Comprehensive Cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao with Global Perspective was briefed at a press conference held by China’s State Council Information Office on June 24.

Nansha has favorable geographical conditions, with broad development space and solid industrial foundation. Under the strong desire for cooperation and development, Nansha enjoys unique advantages in promoting all-round cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, said Guo Lanfeng, a member of the Leading Party Members Group of the National Development and Reform Commission of China.

Among China’s most open regions, the economically dynamic GBA epitomizes how the country aligns its open economic system with the world on its path to a higher level of global monetary cooperation, driving greater GBA-led coordination among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao are Nansha, Qianhai in Shenzhen, and Hengqin in Zhuhai. The ambitious plan for Nansha marked another significant milestone in building the GBA with high quality. The district comes under the spotlight again after decades of development, according to Nansha District People’s Government of Guangzhou City.

The plan stressed a need for Nansha to step up the building of industrial cooperation bases for sci-tech innovation, according to the press conference. Beyond that, the district was required to bolster Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao joint efforts for sci-tech innovation through the launch of major platforms for this purpose and to grow the high-tech industry by drawing high-caliber personnel with a global perspective. Moreover, the plan stated that to make Nansha a magnet for firms and talent in high technology, the Startup Zone-based enterprises in the industries encouraged by the state will be entitled to the corporate income tax at the reduced rate of 15%, and the individual income of Hong Kong and Macao citizens working in Nansha will be exempt from tax increases. Furthermore, Nansha unveiled a swathe of measures for promoting the development of the semiconductor and integrated circuit industries. As such, the pilot free trade area will offer support on nine fronts, ranging from launching major projects and financing businesses to moving up the integrated circuit industrial chain and subsidizing the uses of electricity in production to encouraging automotive-grade standards among companies.

Nansha is now home to over 400 artificial intelligence (AI) companies as it connects the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Corridor to its counterpart linking Zhuhai with Macao.

“The main reason we started a business in Nansha is that the district has created enough synergy among industries, universities, and research institutes for AI growth,” said Cao Tiantian, co-founder of DeepMirror, a spatial-intelligence developer.

Over the recent years, a wealth of outstanding research institutes and advanced large-scale scientific facilities have grown in Nansha, aiming to spur growth in basic science and cutting-edge technology, among others. These newcomers will benefit from the strengths of the innovation and technology base in Qingsheng and the 99-square-kilometer Nansha Science City, which remains under construction. “With its recent momentum in sci-tech innovation, Nansha starts demonstrating strength as a late starter,” noted Fu Zhengping, director of the Institute of Free Trade Zones, Sun Yat-sen University.

A magnet of top global tech companies, Silicon Valley, enjoys much more significant influence than the San Francisco Bay Area. Global cities aspire to become its strongest rival. In Nansha, the uplifting silver lining is that youth from across the world find it an ideal place to promote innovation and entrepreneurship.

Founded in 2017, TIMETABLE, a Nansha-based business incubator for youth from the GBA, has helped more than 40 Hong Kong and Macao startups innovate and develop. It is designed to offer incubation services to grow fields such as digital technology and entertainment and new types of consumption and retail.

“For those aspiring to start a business, an opportune time and an enabling climate can’t be more important,” said TIMETABLE’s founder Wu Jiahui, “the technology-forward GBA provides tremendous market opportunities and sees an unfettered flow of production factors beyond a full range of supporting entrepreneurial services and an unmatched business environment that Nansha has to offer. All this makes the district a good choice for Hong Kong and Macao entrepreneurs.”

Besides development opportunities, a modernized urban environment also holds the key to retaining talent. As an integral component of a city’s “soft power”, the smart city campaign puts the GBA on a faster growth track. And Nansha is showing its bright side as people’s livelihoods are being empowered by innovative technologies, ranging from big data to cloud computing.

According to a leader for Nansha’s smart city program, the district is moving toward a more caring and intelligent destination. That means it will lay the solid groundwork for the perception of universal urban data and build a hub for all smart operations. In so doing, an inclusive system designed to make education, healthcare, and elderly care services more tech-driven and accessible is set to be in place, and services to Hong Kong and Macao citizens, as well as professionals from the rest of the world, will be further modernized.

Source: Nansha District People’s Government of Guangzhou City