Written by: People's Daily
Posted on: June 28, 2018 | 
| 中文
Skycrapers, a common sight in Guangdong
Guangdong, the frontier of the Reform and Opening Policy of China, has become “the window through which modern Chinese people look at the world.” Through this window, people witnessed huge changes that the policy brought to Guangdong and China. The word that was most frequently mentioned during our interview is “open,” which is also the coordinate that Guangdong set for herself in the new era.
Unique Advantages formed by Opening
As the gate of China that opens to the outside world, Guangdong has many experiences of being “No.1.” In the first three seasons of 2017, the import and export volume of Guangdong reached 4,930 billion yuan, rising 11% and ranking No.1 in China. Moreover, Guangdong attracted 16.96 billion U.S. dollars of foreign investment, taking 18.4 % of China’s total and ranking No.1 in China.
“The advantage, as well as the function of Guangdong, is its opening to the outside world. The development of Guangdong also relies on its opening,” says Chi Fulin, President of China Institute for Reform and Development. The location advantage of Guangdong determines the strategic function of the province.
Organizing Qianhai international talents service center, consolidating basic-level Party building, pushing out action projects of scientific innovation; in November 2017, Qianhai, Shenzhen passed a series of reform proposals. “To make progress every year,” is the construction target of Shekou, Qianhai of China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone. A new urban area rises from bare ground, because Shekou dares to take the lead. The old building site has now become a major free trade zone.
“We adopt policies that are more special than those of special economic zones, policies of being a pilot, and special laws and taxation. We are the true ‘zone of the zones’,” says Wang Jinxia, Associate Director of Shekou Administrative Committee, “Ever since the Pilot Free Trade Zone put up its plate, more than 308 achievements of system innovation have been made, and Qianhai has become a major experiment zone of system innovation.”
There are two more pilot zones in Guangdong. JD.com, Tmall, VIP.com and Suning Cloud Business, all of which are well-known brands that can easily be encountered if one walks in Nansha New District of Guangzhou. Here, thanks to the standardized automatic customs declaration and paperless smart clearance of cross-border e-commerce, more than 95% of the cross-border goods can be cleared in seconds. The average clearance time for each good has been cut down to 105 seconds, which makes it much more convenient for global purchase and global sale.
There is only one river lying between Hengqin New District, which is on the west bank of the Pearl River, and Macau. After the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge is constructed and put into operation, Hengqin becomes the only national new district of mainland that is directly linked to the bridge. The district insists on deepening the overall cooperation with Macau, and pushes forward the construction of the Hengqin-Macau common destiny.
Active Participation in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Cooperation
In the end of 2017 as an enterprise representative, Zhou Yunxian, the CEO of Hengqin Bringbuys visited Sao Paulo, Brazil, for a nine-day negotiation and exchange activity. During that time, he introduced Bringbuys’ concept of “C2B” to Brazilian enterprises
An entrepreneur of Macau, who in his early 30s, started a business less than 6 months ago, but has already gotten an angel investment of 30 million HKD. The number of his team members expanded from a dozen to 116.
“The policy advantages of Hengqin-Macau Innovalley cannot be found elsewhere,” says Zhou. Innovalley provides young businessmen of Macau with many preferential policies.
Innovalley of Hengqin New District, which covers an area of 120,000 square meters and Macau, are on each side of a river. Now the implementation of many supporting policies, including the policy of allowing single-plate vehicle of Macau to visit Hengqin, and different taxation standards for Hong Kong and Macau people who work in Hengqin, has brought enormous convenience to those young Hong Kong and Macau people who set up businesses in Innovalley.
From now on, by putting emphasis on the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Great Bay Area, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau cooperation, and Pan-Pearl River Delta regional cooperation, Guangdong will comprehensively push forward the mutually beneficial cooperation between mainland China and Hong Kong, Macau. Now, Guangdong is building an international first-class bay area and world-class city group, by encouraging the interflow of people, goods, capitals, and information.
Expand Opening-up and Promote Innovation
Kuang-Chi “Martin,” the first commercial utility jet pack of the world, Kuang-Chi “Cloud,” the airborne platform that can perform communication, optical remote sensing, IoT (Internet of Things) detection, and big data collection and analysis, Kuang-Chi “solarship,” the green transportation platform - all these “black technologies” are developed by Shenzhen Kuang-Chi Institute of Higher Science and Technology.
So far, the patents applied for by Kuang-Chi in the field of metamaterials, take up 86% of the world’s total, making the company ahead of its league. “The talents of Kuang-Chi come from all over the world, so do its innovations,” says Yang Jing, the Brand Director of Kuang-Chi. Now the company has set up branches in 21 countries and regions.
In the second general assembly plant of GAC Group vehicle manufacture, smart robots are working in order and windshields are installed automatically. Here, it only takes more than 60 seconds to produce a vehicle.
On Dec. 4, 2017, Guangdong issued new policies that allow foreign investments in more fields, put emphasis on attracting high-end foreign investments and talents, and expand the opening-up in such fields as manufacture, service, and finance. More talent and technology will gather here in the future.
Translated by Zhu Siyu
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