AsiaNet 82598

ZHUHAI, China, Jan. 28, 2020 /Xinhua-AsiaNet/--

Celebrate the Spring Festival on the charming Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area! On January 24, the Spring Festival's Eve, the Greater Bay Area sub venue gala of the 2020 Spring Festival Gala took place at the artificial island of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Against the brilliant landscape of the 55-kilometer bridge, the bell of the Spring Festival rang. Zhuhai, as the host of the sub venue gala and the forerunner of opening up, sent the new year wishes to the world and drew a new picture of openness and innovation with other cities in this Area. 

Dazzling fireworks display, lion dancing with LED and technology of light and shadow, special effect beam and human-screen interaction created fantastic 
atmosphere. Thousands of residents of the three cities sang a song together and expressed their aspirations for 2020 by wonderful performances on the "Super Project". Performances with Chinese science and technology innovation products and culture presented a dynamic Greater Bay Area that integrates tradition and innovation, classic and fashion to the world. 

While the three places celebrate the new year together, the Greater Bay Area embraces a better future. Today, as one of the most open and economically 
vibrant regions, the Area is presenting great prospects. Thanks to the "golden channel", namely the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, Zhuhai is promoting the in-depth cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao. Resources including innovation, talents, capital, technology and culture of the Area and even the world are gathered, connected, allocated and integrated in Zhuhai, stimulating its development continuously. 

With the operation of the Bridge, industrial giants such as Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, and Foxconn have carried out in-depth cooperation with Zhuhai in fields including smart cities, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and chips to expand a broad prospect for a new economy. "With further development of the Greater Bay Area, Zhuhai enjoys strong momentum and bright prospects based on prominent geographical advantages," said Zhang Jianfeng, partner and Chief Technology Officer of Alibaba Group. 

At present, the construction of the Area goes into the fast lane, which promotes the exchange and cooperation between Zhuhai and Macao. According to data  from the People's Government of Zhuhai Municipality, in the first half of 2019 alone, there were 310 newly established Macao-invested companies in Zhuhai, accounting for more than half of the newly established enterprises in the city. 

In addition, the connectivity between Zhuhai and Macao also provides benefits for the residents of both sides. Recently, the Zhuhai Real Estate Registration Center and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China(Macau) Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement to set up a warmly-welcomed real estate registration service center in Macao, allowing Macao enterprises and individuals to deal with the cross-border real estate mortgage registration within Macao. 

The continuously-expanding Zhuhai-Macao cooperation space witnesses the speeding opening-up of the Area and also reflects China's actions and determination to make a new ground in pursuing opening up. 

By 2020, the time limit for foreign investment putting on files outside the negative list will be reduced to less than one working day, and the time limit for starting a business will be controlled within four working days. The number of newly registered Hong Kong and Macao-funded enterprises will reach to 12,000. The business scope of individual industrial and commercial households of Hong Kong and Macao residents will be fully liberalized. Guangdong has made it clear that in the future, it will promote the integration of resources, the complementarity of advantages and the linkage of opening-up measures in the Area to lead an opening pattern with the connection of land and sea, domestic and overseas areas and mutual beneficial cooperation between the east and the west bank of the Pearl River. 

The sub-venue of the Spring Festival Gala on the Bridge not only reflects the continuously improving city-to-city connectivity but also witnesses the expansion of cooperation fields between these three places. It is foreseeable that the construction of the Area will promote the development of Hong Kong and Macao, and expand new space for cooperation between China and the world. 

Source: The People's Government of Zhuhai Municipality 

--BERNAMA