Zhuhai
- Zhuhai is located at the south-central part of Guangdong Province and at the confluence of the Pearl River and South China Sea, adjoining Zhongshan on its north and Macao on its south. Since its establishment as a special economic zone in 1980, Zhuhai has achieved constant rapid economic development particularly on industrial production. The six basic industries of Zhuhai are electronic information, home appliances, electricity and energy, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices, petrochemicals and precision machinery; while printing supplies and yacht manufacturing are the other two special industries.
- Zhuhai has convenient land, sea and air transport. Zhuhai Port is one of the main coastal ports of the country and is one of the five major ports in Guangdong Province.
Major Development Areas
- National level: Zhuhai Economic and Technological Development Zone, Zhuhai High-Tech Industrial Development Zone, Zhuhai Bonded Zone, and Zhuhai-Macao Cross-border Industrial Zone
- Provincial level: Zhuhai Fushan Industrial Park, and Zhuhai Jinwan Liangang Industrial Park
- The State Council approved the implementation of the Overall Development Plan for Hengqin on 14 August 2009. According to the Plan, Hengqin Island (an area of 106.5 square kilometres) was incorporated into the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone, and would be built into a demonstration area for exploration of new model of “Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao” cooperation under “one country, two systems”. Hengqin focuses on the development of four industries, namely business services, leisure entertainment and tourism, science, education, research and development, as well as high-tech industries.
- In June 2019, the Zhuhai Human Resources & Social Security Bureau implemented five major initiatives in the areas of employment, social security, talents and public services to take forward the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The “Implementation Measures for Enterprises providing housing (rental and living) subsidies for newly introduced mid-level to senior professional and technical talents, highly-skilled talents and youth talents in Zhuhai” was published in the same month. Hong Kong and Macao youth talents with undergraduate degrees or above and fulfil the stated requirements, who work and make social security contributions or have made individual income tax payments in Zhuhai, may apply for housing subsidy. The Measures are valid for five years.
- There are a number of preferential policies for Hong Kong people and enterprises in Hengqin, including rebate on the amount of income tax paid in excess of 15% for Hong Kong residents, and imposition of enterprise income tax at a discounted rate of 15% for eligible Hong Kong enterprises. Many Hong Kong enterprises have set up business in Hengqin. As at December 2017, there were 862 Hong Kong-invested enterprises registered in Hengqin, mainly belonging to cultural and creative industries and tourism in which Hong Kong enjoys advantages.
Economic and Trade Relations Between Zhuhai and Hong Kong
- In 2018, the total export to Hong Kong was RMB26.52 billion, accounting for 14.1% of the city’s overall.
- In 2017, the number of new direct investment projects from Hong Kong in Zhuhai was 805; the contracted direct investment from Hong Kong amounted to US$4.31 billion; and the realised direct investment from Hong Kong was US$1.08 billion.
- As of the end of 2017, the number of approved Hong Kong-invested enterprises in Zhuhai reached 6 154 (accounting for 40.8% of the city’s overall). The contracted direct investment from Hong Kong reached US$27.86 billion (accounting for 47.1% of the city’s overall) and the realised direct investment from Hong Kong was US$12.47 billion (accounting for 44.3% of the city’s overall).
Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Bases
- The Inno Valley HQ was established in 2015. Through creating a three-dimensional incubation model comprising “space and platforms (makerspaces + incubators + accelerators), entrepreneurial ecosystem (capital + venture projects + incubation service + innovation and collaboration resources) and operation mechanism (sharing + mutual support + community)”, it promotes the efficient flow of factors of innovation and entrepreneurship. It provides entrepreneurs with support on technical development, commercialisation, entrepreneurship training, investment and financing, etc., with the aim to achieving organic integration of talents, techniques, capital and markets. There were 252 incubator projects, of which 138 projects were from Hong Kong and Macao. 27 High and New Technology Enterprises were nurtured; one academician from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and 53 experts from the Thousand Talents Plan introduced; 51 enterprises started; 20 enterprises awarded venture capital that the funds raised exceeded RMB404 million.
- A Zhuhai entrepreneruship base for Hong Kong and Macao youths was established in Nanfenghui, Pazhou in May 2019 to provide support services in entrepreneurship, internship, exchanges, living, etc. to Hong Kong and Macao youths.
For Zhuhai’s key measures on taking forward the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, please refer to the ‘webpage of Work Report of Zhuhai Municipal Government’ (in Chinese only).