Xiangzhou District, Zhuhai

Macao-funded businesses have grown in number to 764 in Hengqin New Area, up 132 percent from the end of 2015.

Adhering to the principle of Facing the World & Prioritizing Hong Kong and Macao, Hengqin is seen as an ideal locale for modern service industries of Hong Kong and Macao. The Hengqin administration has strengthened industrial cooperation and boosted Macao’s economic diversification. This is being achieved with Guangdong-Macao Industrial Cooperation Park, Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park, and Macao-Hengqin Youth Entrepreneurship Valley (Inno Valley Hengqin). 

The Macao SAR government has recommended 83 projects with total investment exceeding 200 billion yuan ($29 billion) to settle in Guangdong-Macao Industrial Cooperation Park. Twenty projects have cooperation agreements, planning to occupy 1.7 sq km of granted land. Another 17 have received project sites of 1.17 sq km. Furthermore, 13 projects are under construction, covering business services, leisure tourism, cultural and creative, e-commerce, warehousing and logistics, medicine and public health, R&D of science and education, as well as logistics, commerce, and trade industries.   

Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park [Photo courtesy zh.southcn.com]

The Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park was the first project initiated to implement the Framework Agreement on Cooperation Between Guangdong and Macao. The prophase development center has come into operation. A batch of Macao enterprises has settled in the business incubation center and 10 Macao-funded projects have signed land leasing agreement with the park. Support facilities such as GMP Pilot Plant, R&D and testing building, and scientific research headquarters office building have been capped and will come into use in the second half of this year. By the end of 2016, the industrial park had been in touch with 252 companies including 86 from Macao. Sixty-eight showed intent for the settlement and 56 have reached cooperation intention with the park. 

The Inno Valley Hengqin started operation in June 2015 is a business incubation platform for communication and cooperation among Macao and domestic entrepreneurs. It has attracted 175 entrepreneurial teams with nearly 80 percent from Hong Kong and Macao. Sixty-one have completed the process and 114 are still under incubation, mainly in fields of electronics and information, bio-medicine, modern agriculture and environment protection. Three companies have applied for the title of hi-tech enterprises, and five have been chosen as nurturing ones. Another 15 have received venture investment of more than 100 million yuan ($14.51 million).

Besides, new breakthroughs have been achieved in cooperation of tourism and high-end service industries such as finance and law between Hengqin and Macao.