The Dream Factory of China

　　Last month, a document named "Vision and Actions on Jointly Building Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road" was issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Commerce. It proposed building a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Big Bay Area. This will involve a role for mainland's economic cooperation zones, including Qianhai in Shenzhen, Nansha in Guangzhou, and Hengqin in Zhuhai. It will also allow lead to greater cooperation between mainland, Macao and Hong Kong.

　　This is one of the key strategies under the "One Belt One Road" initiative. The central government has provided Hong Kong with a wonderful opportunity to play a major role in this.

　　Those who follow global economic developments might know that bay area economies were a prominent feature of economic development after the World War II. A bay area comprises a number of geographically adjacent coastal cities. To avoid fierce competition, these neighboring cities make full use of their respective advantages and complement one another. Consequently, not only will economic performance improve, the overall competitiveness of the area is greatly enhanced. At present, the three most successful bay areas are the New York Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Tokyo Bay Area.

　　The New York Bay is an important part of the US economy and is a leading player in the world's modern service industries. The San Francisco Bay Area developed from an industrial town into modern day Silicon Valley. The world's most influential technology companies are assembled there to develop the most advanced products. The Tokyo Bay Area consists of the biggest group of industrial cities in Japan. Its industries are among the leading ones in Asia. The common characteristics of these three bay areas are their ability to develop wealth and skilled people. They are equipped with exoteric economic structures, efficient resource allocation and an international transport network.

　　We all know the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao area has the highest density of harbor and airport clusters in the world. Last year, more than 70 million 20-foot equivalent units of containers were handled, and traffic volume of all airports in the area exceeded 140 million. Regional gross domestic product (GDP) reached $1.4 trillion - while the gross trade volume topped $1.8 trillion. Therefore, if the bay area develops steadily, it could potentially threaten the position of the world's three existing bay areas. Also, the proposed bay area can be a strategic base for the "One Belt One Road" initiative. This is a chance which Hong Kong cannot miss.

　　The core value of a bay area is cooperation. The most significant point when building a world-class bay area is to avoid disorderly competition among intra-bay cities. Otherwise, the individual strengths of each city might be impaired. The bay area should act collectively as a whole and compete with outside economies. This will not be easy. A great deal of research, negotiation and coordination are needed.

　　Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao are very three different administrative regions - they share "one country" but are also divided into "two systems". At present, Qianhai, Hengqin and Nansha have all been declared free-trade zone, and the ongoing Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao free-trade zone also enjoys the privilege of being a pilot project. In recent years, the central government has supported the three sides to develop according to their own unique features. It supports Hong Kong remaining an international center for finance, trading, shipping, logistics and high value-added services and Macao staying an international leisure tourism center. Now that the fundamental conditions for a new bay area are ready, the tripartite governments and scholars should examine the issue of division of labor under different systems.