Yuan Haiping, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director-General of the Development and Reform Bureau of Zhaoqing Municipal Government, Director of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Affairs Office of Zhaoqing Municipal Government was interviewd by Southcn.com and Newsgd.com. (Photo by Lu Fei)

Focusing on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Zhaoqing will make full use of its strengths to establish itself as a great cooperation platform and link the GBA with Southwest China, contributing to the construction of the world-class urban cluster.

These remarks were delivered by Yuan Haiping, Secretary of the Party Leadership Group and Director-General of the Development and Reform Bureau of Zhaoqing Municipal Government, Director of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Affairs Office of Zhaoqing Municipal Government, in an exclusive interview with Southcn.com and Newsgd.com, revealing Zhaoqing’s plan for the next period.

Zhaoqing City. (File photo)

Utilizing Zhaoqing’s strengths to foster high-quality growth

As an important city in the GBA, Zhaoqing will join hands with other cities to build a world-class urban cluster to further the high-quality development of the GBA. To this end, the city has carried out some measures.

In 2018, Zhaoqing established its own leading group for GBA development. This year, it is setting up 6 teams for key sections such as modern industrial systems, environmental protection and advanced transport networks.

The city has been promoting cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao. Key figures in Zhaoqing have communicated with chambers of commerce, companies and universities in Hong Kong for better education, medical services, sci-tech industry and industrial mechanisms.

The great cooperation platforms in Zhaoqing, such as the high-tech development zone and the cross-border electronic commerce zone, will offer new levels of convenience for people from Hong Kong and Macao working and living in Zhaoqing.

Furthermore, Zhaoqing has been working on its health and tourism industries, including building an industrial base for medicine and an ecotourism base in Dinghu district.

A key sci-tech innovation center in Zhaoqing. (Photo by Xiao Xiong, Nanfang Daily) 

Great potential for GBA development

Yuan said that Zhaoqing, as an important hub city, links the GBA with Southwest China. With its large area and unexplored potential, Zhaoqing has great development potential and the city will focus on these key works:

Join in the construction of the international sci-tech innovation center, building the West River Innovation Industrial Corridor and forming an innovation industry chain as a part of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Sci-Tech Innovation Corridor.

Create an application-oriented higher education base, building up platforms of education, human resources and innovation & entrepreneurship.

Continue upgrading tourism and health industries, shaping a new pattern of all-for-one tourism to promote the development of local culture and agriculture.

Zhaoqing Railway Station. (Photo by Li Xihua and Xiao Xiong, Nanfang Daily) 

Establishing an interconnected transport system

Yuan also placed emphasis on the establishment of an interconnected transport system.

In terms of rail transit, efforts should be made to realize the “one-hour living circle”, shortening the commuting time between Zhaoqing and other GBA cities. The top priority will be the preliminary research on high speed railways and their networking. It is predicted that the high speed railway from Zhaoqing East to Hong Kong West Kowloon will open in July.

As regard to expressways, Zhaoqing should speed up the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, ShenZhen-ZhongShan Bridge and Nansha Bridge projects improving the connection between the Pearl River Delta and Southwest China.

The goal is also to establish a world-class inland port in the GBA and increase the efficiency of transport combining railways and shipping. Coordinating with the Port of Guangzhou and the Port of Shenzhen, Zhaoqing should be devoted to the intensification and the upscale development of its port group.

As for air transport, the city should take part in the planning and construction of the New Pearl River Delta Airport in Guangzhou, and develop the airport in Zhaoqing.

Supervisor: Liu Jianneng, Hu Zhiyong

Planning: Ma Xisheng, Tang Lina, Zhang Ying, He Jingwen

Reporters:Liu Jianneng, Shi Liang, Zhang Chenping, Hu Nan

Video: Zhang Chenping, Lu Fei

Script: Zhang Chenping

Film-editor: Zhang Qida