Hu Kaihong:

Thank you, Mr. Ma. Now we open the floor to questions. Please identify your media organization before raising your question. 

CCTV:

Society has placed a great deal of attention and expectation toward the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. So how Guangdong will take the opportunity of building the Greater Bay Area to advance its reform and opening-up? Thanks.

Ma Xingrui:

Thanks for the question. Indeed, people are very concerned about this effort. The Greater Bay Area has been planned, deployed and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping himself as a significant strategy of national importance. Xi personally witnessed the signing of the Greater Bay Area framework agreement and clearly pointed out that Guangdong should mobilize resources from the whole province to promote the construction of the Greater Bay Area, and it is an important historic opportunity for Guangdong to renew its efforts in reform and opening-up. It is expected that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao can make concerted efforts to turn the Greater Bay Area into a world-class city cluster and a first class bay area, which can rival the New York Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the Tokyo Bay Area, so as to further improve Guangdong's competitiveness and help realize high-quality development.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council unveiled the Outline Development Plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on Feb. 18, which clarifies the Greater Bay Area's five identities — a vigorous world-class urban agglomeration, an international science and technology innovation center with global influence, an important support for the construction of the Belt and Road, a demonstration zone for in-depth cooperation between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, and a world-class city cluster that promotes a high quality of life, where people can live, work and travel happily. 

Under the leadership of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, Guangdong has formed a close cooperation model with Hong Kong and Macao. We deeply feel that the reform and opening-up since 1978 has brought great changes to Guangdong, and the construction of the Greater Bay Area presents Guangdong with another important opportunity to carry on its reform and opening-up. Our work will be carried forward in the following five aspects. 

First, the business environment will be improved through interlinked rules. We will adhere to the principle of "one country" and make good use of the benefits of "two systems" to interlink the rules in the market economy system, and pave the way for the linkage of various factors. The objective is to ensure that personnel, logistics, capital and information can flow efficiently and orderly. There is still huge potential in this aspect.

Second, the construction of the Greater Bay Area into an international science and technology innovation center will be expedited. This is a key task that people are deeply concerned about.  The Tokyo Bay Area, the New York Bay Area and the San Francisco Bay Area are stronger than the Greater Bay Area in terms of original innovation. This is also our shortcoming. But we have the foundation that has been laid over the past 40 years' of reform and opening-up and over the past 70 years of the New China's development. Hong Kong and Macao have several world-class universities, and if combined with the innovation ability of Guangdong's real economy, they can effectively boost the construction of the international science and technology innovation center. In particular, all relevant departments of the central government attach great importance to the job, such as the building of major scientific and technological infrastructure, large scientific installations, national key laboratories, and national laboratories, etc. In addition, there are also certain favorable tax policies customized for science and technology staff. For example, we are working to make it possible that talents from Hong Kong and Macao can be taxed according to Hong Kong and Macao tax policies in Guangdong. In a word, scientific and technological innovation is a major task for us.

Third, the Greater Bay Area should be built into an important support structure for the construction of the Belt and Road. It is known that the three places have their respective advantages. Hong Kong is an international center of finance, trade and shipping. Macao is a world tourism and leisure center, and has a link with Portuguese-speaking countries. Guangdong is a manufacturing powerhouse and a major province in international trade. So, in the construction of the Belt and Road, the Greater Bay Area can play a very important role.  

Fourth, infrastructure facility interconnectivity will be promoted. As we know, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong high-speed train service opened last year, which implements the system of "one place and two inspections." It takes only 47 minutes to travel from Hong Kong to Guangzhou by train, while before its opening, we took more than four hours by car. There are also some key infrastructure facilities under construction, such as the Liantang/Heung Yuen Wai Boundary Control Point, and a new port connecting Macao and Zhuhai, both of which will be completed before the end of this year. In particular, we are advancing the coordinated development of high-speed railway, harbors and airport clusters in the region. There are three major airports — Hong Kong Airport, Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Shenzhen Baoan Airport, which handle more than 70 million, nearly 70 million and over 45 million passenger trips a year respectively.  

Fifth, an environment with a high quality of life where people can live, work and travel happily will be created. Guangdong will provide sound environment for the youth from Hong Kong and Macao to pursue innovation and start new businesses. Meanwhile, we will also make great efforts to improve the ecological and living environment, since there is still room for improvement in these aspects.

As for information on the Greater Bay Area, you must already be familiar with it as the media has reported widely on it. Due to the tight schedule, I would like to stop here. Thanks.

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