China is making significant strides towards strengthening economic and business ties across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with a particular focus on Qianhai and Hengqin, according to two key documents released on Thursday.
The guidelines, jointly issued by the People’s Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, and the Guangdong provincial government, detail numerous financial support measures to aid the development of Qianhai in Shenzhen and Hengqin in Zhuhai, both located in south China’s Guangdong Province.
The guidelines include measures to enhance innovation in financial services related to people’s livelihood, interconnect financial markets and infrastructure, facilitate cross-border trade, investment, and financing, and improve financial supervision.
The Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone are key areas of focus for China’s efforts to further expand its opening-up policy and promote innovation in the country’s finance sector. Additionally, the measures are expected to strengthen financial cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, offering robust financial support for building a major cooperation platform in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
In fact, the two documents represent the culmination of several measures that have already been implemented, including expanding the pilot program for opening settlement accounts with mainland banks and optimizing market interconnection, such as Shanghai-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Stock Connect and Bond Connect.