On 30th November 2020 at 10 a.m., the Research Centre for Macau Social and Economic Development, a Ministry of Education Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universities, held a press conference on the “Research Report on Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin”.  The press conference was hosted by Prof Ip Kuai Peng, the Pro-Rector in charge of research and Director of the Research Center.  Members of the research team, including Zhou Ping, Director of Research Center on the Belt and Road Initiative (Macau), Huang Xiaoyan, Program Coordinator of the Faculty of Business, Lou Shiyan, Associate Professor from the Faculty of Finance, Lyu Dongjuan, Assistant Professor from the School of Law and Wu Yuxian, Assistant Professor from the Institute for Research on Portuguese-speaking Countries, shared the important points.

Ip Kuai Peng said that the development of Hengqin has always been the top priority of Guangdong-Macao cooperation and has deepened in the past decade. This year marks the beginning of the construction of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. The Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) should seize the historical opportunity, utilize a series of preferential policies implemented by the central government to support the development of Macao, expand the development space of society and people’s livelihood, promote diversified economic development to strive for greater progress, and to better implement the strategy of “One Center, One Platform, One Base” so that the SAR will be able to integrate with the overall national development in the process of promoting quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in a pragmatic manner, devising new ideas for the implementation of “One Country Two Systems”.  He continued to point out that to make the concept of Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin come true, it is most critical to tackle the difficult issue of differences in the systems and mechanisms of the two places.  Both Guangdong and Macao need to think out of the box. It is suggested that the Macao SAR government work with national ministries, Guangdong and Zhuhai to consider putting in place a new mechanism and setting up new steering institutions to work on the connection of rules and mechanisms between Guangdong and Macao. At the same time, the construction plan of Hainan Free Trade Port can serve as a reference for Macao’s free trade port policy to be extended to Hengqin. In addition, middle and long-term planning should be carried out and the development of the southern reclamation area of ​​Hengqin New Area and Hezhou area should be accelerated to provide sufficient room for continuous in-depth cooperation between Guangdong and Macao.  Also, the industry layout should be optimized by leveraging the development of the Cooperation Zone, with emerging industries, such as technology and innovation, modern finance, traditional Chinese medicine and cross-border commerce being the focus, so as to promote moderate diversification of Macao’s economy.  Lastly, continuous efforts should be made to formulate better policies and measures to make it easier for Macao residents to pursue development in the Mainland, promote orderly connection of livelihood protection schemes and social services between the two places, creating an integrated Macao-Zhuhai metropolitan area.

Zhou Ping believed that Hengqin was an important stop for Macao to participate in the implementation of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the “Belt and Road” initiatives and become part of the country’s development. The intensive cooperation between Henqin and Macau can form the real West end of Pearl River bank in the Greater Bay Area, radiate to surrounding cities and drive the construction of the Greater Bay Area. It will also further strengthen Macao’s ability to participate in the “Belt and Road” initiative. Through intensive cooperation, both Henqin and Macao will have greater ability to participate in the “Belt and Road” initiative and make contributions in more ways, enabling them to participate in more areas of the “Belt and Road” initiative in the future.  In other words, the intensive cooperation between Hengqin and Macao will become an "enhanced version" of Macao's participation in the “Belt and Road” initiative.

Huang Xiaoyan emphasized that development required innovation and innovation required creativity.  Other most vibrant regional economic entities in the world, such as San Francisco, New York, Paris and Tokyo, have remarkable arts and cultural industries. The cooperation between Guangdong and Macao and the development of the Greater Bay Area need to leverage the role of creativity clusters and add an artistic element to leisure culture.

Lou Shiyan pointed out that approval had been granted by the National Development and Reform Commission to study and explore the idea of establishing Macau Stock Exchange in Hengqin.  This will help Macao further integrate into the overall national development, participate in the division of work and cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay so that coordinated regional development and complementary roles, mutual assistance and interaction in the area of finance can be achieved. Macao should step up efforts in the areas of talent pool, financial risks prevention, and improvement of the soft environment and hardware facilities of its financial sector.

Lyu Dongjuan said that the establishment of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin should take into consideration the interface of different jurisdictions in substantive law and procedural law.  It is suggested that a legal protection system for the Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin be formed under the framework of “One Country, Two Systems”, the Constitution and Macao Basic Law.  Also, a multi-mechanism for dispute resolution between the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone and Macao should be set up and optimized. In addition, it is necessary to explore an open and coordinated soft law governance approach to make up for the deficiencies in the hard law governance approach, driving the development of Macao in various areas, such as free trade port, exchanges, financial projects, and data flow.

Wu Yuxian pointed out that the in-depth cooperation between Guangdong and Macao was another important opportunity for Macao to pursue its “One Platform, Three Centers” initiative.  The Cooperation Zone can be developed into a bridge connecting Portuguese-speaking countries with mainland China in markets and exchange of products. It is suggested that the SAR government continue to leverage its advantage of having experience of being a “Food Distribution Center of Portuguese-speaking Countries” to set up a high-quality food exhibition and sales center for Portuguese-speaking countries in the Cooperation Zone, make good use of cross-border e-commerce and further expand the sales of the food of Portuguese-speaking countries to the market of Mainland China.

The City University of Macau has always been rooted in Macao and has been serving the country.  It has formed an interdisciplinary and cross-departmental research team based on major strategies of the country and the development needs of Macao, conducting in-depth research on issues pertinent to the governance of the SAR and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area initiative in order to better serve local society and make greater contributions to the sustainable development of the country, Macao and the region. Also present at the conference were Sheng Jian, Director of the Research Management Office, and Chen Peiyi and Xiao Mingyu, researchers of CityU.