Ta Kung Pao:

The outline development plan calls for strengthening strategic emerging industries and nurturing particular major industry projects such as 5G technology. We wonder if the 5G technology will be commercially used first in the Hong Kong and Macao regions? Thank you.

Luo Wen:

5G is regarded as one of the core technologies representing the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation. It is also the strategic information infrastructure for the Internet of Things and human-machine interaction. China has placed great importance on the development of 5G technology and is stepping up the commercial use of this technology. In accordance with the requirements of high-quality development, relevant departments are improving coordination and enhancing policy guidance, so as to make a primary plan to promote 5G research and its commercial application, which relies on the dominant role of enterprises and focuses on industry development. We support the enhanced synergy and exchange between enterprises of the Greater Bay Area and encourage them to share their achievements. We encourage telecom operators in Hong Kong and Macao to make commercial use of 5G technology and make the technology better serve the residents there. In the next stage we will, together with other involved departments, proactively advance the work in this regard. Thank you.

Xinhua News Agency:

We know that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is actively building an international science and technology innovation center. Presently, the Outline Development Plan lists this center as one of specific tasks in the first chapter. My question is why the central government is supporting Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to jointly build this innovation center? What is the next step in the project, and how will the three places move it forward? Thank you.

Luo Wen:

Thank you for your question. General Secretary Xi Jinping once described the vision of the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: It will be a dynamic and internationally competitive first-class bay area and a model for high-quality development. To achieve this, building an international science and technology innovation center is a top priority, a key of all keys, and this is one of the most agreed-upon and advantageous parts of the construction of the Greater Bay Area. It shoulders the historical responsibility of setting a new high point for innovation and development in our country, and driving the Pearl River Delta region to take the lead in achieving innovation and transformation. The reason why the central government should support Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to jointly build an international science and technology innovation center is mainly based on the following three aspects:

First, there is an urgent need to improve the overall layout of China's regional innovation and to accelerate the shift of economic development to becoming innovation-driven.
 The Greater Bay Area's science and technology innovation center follows the examples set by the two science and technology innovation centers in Beijing and Shanghai, and has been planned, arranged and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping in person.Through the construction of the science and technology center, we can fast-track the full integration of scientific and technological innovation into the real economy, modern finance and human resources. We can also promote the economic aggregates of these three massive urban clusters — Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — which account for nearly 40 percent of the country's economy, to be built into an innovative economy, in turn leading the transformation of China's economy as a whole into one that is driven by innovation.

Second, we will give full play to the comparative advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao and maintain the fundamental requirements for long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao. Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao complement each other powerfully in terms of innovation. By co-constructing the science and technology innovation center, Hong Kong and Macao's advantages in basic research, talent cultivation, modern finance and knowledge-intensive services will be amplified. This will then interact with Guangdong's real economy, extending the industrial chain and innovation chain, opening up broad market space and maintaining long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao.

Third, we will make use of Hong Kong and Macao's internationalization, and drive the Greater Bay Area to accelerate their incorporation into the global innovation network. Hong Kong and Macao are two of the world's free trade ports, with flexible market mechanisms and a high degree of internationalization. They have established extensive innovation connections with major countries and regions around the world. By co-constructing the science and technology innovation center, they will attract high-level innovative talent, enterprises and scientific research institutions to gather in the Greater Bay Area, which will encourage the enterprises, technologies and standards of the Greater Bay Area to venture out and deeply integrate into that global innovation network.

In the next step, based on the decisions and deployments made by the central government, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) will coordinate with other relevant departments, as well as with Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao, to build a splendid scientific and technological innovation center for the Greater Bay Area in the following aspects:

First, we need to establish an appropriate working mechanism. According to the deployment of the State Council, the NDRC will set up a team designated to work for the scientific and technological innovation center under the leadership of the Greater Bay Area Construction Leading Group. It will coordinate the work on how to chart roadmaps, develop policies, distribute assignments and allocate resources. With the support from relevant departments and local governments, the innovation center can be run jointly from top to bottom.

Second, we will devise coordinated policies. We support the pilot operations of innovative cooperation zones in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, in Zhuhai's Hengqin, and in Guangzhou's Nansha, spearheaded in the policies designed to protect Intellectual Property Rights, supervising markets, developing scientific and technological finance, creating talent pools and encouraging high-tech applications. We will establish cross-border platforms to facilitate the flow of various elements, facilities, creative development and people-to-people interconnectedness, bringing deepened innovation-centered structural reform not only to the Greater Bay Area but also the country as a whole.

Third, we want to ensure that the major programs run well. Based on the scientific and technological innovative corridor comprising Guangzhou, Shenzhen, HK and Macao, we plan to make good use of central governmental, regional and social resources, spending them on a number of infrastructure developments for major scientific and technological projects, interdisciplinary research platforms and frontier high-tech innovation centers. We want to bring about a batch of high-quality innovations, establish a host of highly internationalized sci-tech centers, leading more regional and social investment and attracting top-end higher educational institutes, research and R&D centers to develop in the Greater Bay Area, upgrading the scope and prominence of regional sci-tech centers.

Fourth, we intend to deepen reform and cooperate for expanded innovation. We want to remove the obstacles that affect the easy elemental flow of talents, technologies, funds, facilities, information, data and samples and support deepened cooperation among Guangdong, HK and Macao. The reform at the pilot zone level can be escalated to a higher standard and expanded to more extensive spectrums so that the communication, exchanges and innovative cooperation of the three regions can take on a new shape. We will fully adhere to the internationalization drive, grasping and making full use of global resources, to support the enterprises, standards, technologies and products to go abroad and expand the dimensions of innovation, cooperation and openness.

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