South China's Guangzhou city said Tuesday that it would cooperate with Hong Kong and Macao to speed up construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in 2019.

The capital of Guangdong Province will work with the two special administrative regions to build a world-class urban agglomeration and a tech innovation corridor linking Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao, said Guangzhou mayor Wen Guohui.

Wen made the revelation while delivering the government work report to the annual session of the city's people's congress.

During the event, the city also announced its 2019 budget of 19 billion yuan (2.8 bln U.S. dollars) to support the Greater Bay Area, which aims to boost joint development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

Wen said the city planned to set up an innovation center for young entrepreneurs in the Greater Bay Area and extend the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link into the the center of Guangzhou.

The city will also speed up construction of the Guangzhou campus of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Guangzhou CPPCC to expand cooperation with HK, Macao

The top political advisory body in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, urged its members to put forward more valuable proposals to help expand cooperation among Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao in the coming months.

Liu Yuelun, chairman of the 13th Guangzhou Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said that relevant departments and Guangzhou CPPCC members should seize all opportunities to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and enhance cooperation among the three regions, located at the mouth of the Pearl River.

"Guangzhou's CPPCC members should play an active role in the development of a world-class bay area by expanding cooperation with relevant organizations and groups from the two Chinese special administrative regions (SARs)," Liu told more than 500 CPPCC members at the opening ceremony of the third session of the Guangzhou Committee of the CPPCC on Monday.

He said that his advisory body will invite more young people this year from Hong Kong and Macao to study, work and travel in Guangzhou in order to help boost cooperation.

Liu also promised to further expand cooperation with relevant parties and organizations from Taiwan to help improve the relationship between the mainland and Taiwan in trade and cultural industries, helping create a better investment and business environment in Guangzhou in 2019.

Source: Xinhua, Chinadaily