Xi Yanchun:

Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Welcome to this press conference. "The Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," recently released by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council, has received a lot of attention. To offer more information about the plan, today we are delighted to welcome four of the involved officials to explain the plan and answer your questions. They are Mr. Luo Wen, deputy head of the National Development and Reform Commission; Mr. Lin Shaochun, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee and executive vice governor of Guangdong province; Mr. Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, chief secretary for Administration of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region; and Mr. Mi Jian, director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Service of the Macao Special Administrative Region. Now, I'll give the floor to Mr. Luo.

Luo Wen:

Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, Good afternoon!

Thank you for your attention and support to the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Let me take this opportunity to express my sincere thanks to our friends from various sectors of society for their interest, understanding and support for this initiative.

Promoting the development of the Greater Bay Area is a major national strategy that General Secretary Xi Jinping has planned for, made decisions about and promoted in person. On July 1, 2017, he witnessed the signing of the Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Bay Area between the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), and the governments of Guangdong Province, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Macao Special Administrative Region, signaling the development of the Greater Bay Area was officially made a national strategy.

General Secretary Xi Jinping subsequently issued a number of important instructions on the development of the Greater Bay Area, clearly setting out the objective of "developing a vibrant and internationally competitive first-class bay area", showing clearly the direction for our future work. Different from other bay areas in the world, the development of the Greater Bay Area faces many new challenges as it will be carried out under the "one country, two systems", involving three customs areas using three different currencies, which is without precedent internationally. Therefore, it is not only an attempt to break new ground in pursuing opening-up on all fronts in the new era, but a further step in advancement of the practice of "one country, two systems". In formulating the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area, we have always borne in mind the principle of "one country, two systems" and acted strictly in accordance with the Constitution and the Basic Laws, aiming to support the integration of the development of Hong Kong and Macao into the development of the country as a whole, fully leverage their unique advantages, promote cooperation to achieve win-win outcomes, give new impetus to their development, and provide strong support for the implementation of the innovation-driven development strategy and the building of a new system for an open economy. Based on these considerations, the outline development plan attaches special importance to the following four aspects:

First, taking into full consideration the overall development of the country when defining the strategic positioning of the Greater Bay Area. The [latter] plays an important role in China's reform, opening up, and socialist modernization. We have always kept the overall situation in mind, with a global vision in our study, and put forward five major strategic positions, so as to further enhance the Greater Bay Area's supporting and leading role in China's reform and opening up, and better serve the country's development strategy.

The second involves adhering to the principle of "one country, two systems" to maintain the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao. The outline development plan stresses the importance of implementing the principle of "one country, two systems" and acting in strict adherence to the Constitution and the Basic Laws, with a focus on promoting coordinated and synergistic development of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, expanding the development space for the latter two, and enriching the practice of "one country, two systems".

The third aspect concerns fully leveraging the comparative advantages of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, and enhancing the region's international competitiveness. The outline development plan underlines the importance of properly leveraging the benefits of the "two systems" to stimulate institutional vitality and the market, and strengthen the core competitiveness of the Greater Bay Area.

The fourth aspect involves deepening reform to give play to the decisive role of market forces in resource allocation. The outline development plan highlights the critical role of innovation, with a focus on removing all institutional and systemic obstacles hindering cooperation and development of the Greater Bay Area. It strives to expedite early and pilot implementation of certain major reform measures in the Greater Bay Area and employ market-oriented, law-based measures to tackle problems in development.

Generally speaking, the main contents of the plan can be summarized as follows: One focus, one vision, seven priorities and four measures. "One focus" refers to supporting the integration of Hong Kong and Macao into the overall national development; "one vision" involves developing a vibrant and internationally competitive first-class bay area and build a role model of high-quality development; the "seven priorities" define the seven major areas for development, including building a globally influential international innovation and technology hub, and expediting infrastructural connectivity; the "four measures" involve strengthening organizational leadership, pressing ahead with the major tasks, preventing and mitigating risks, and broadening social participation.

In fact, we have been working with Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, as well as relevant departments to advance development of the Greater Bay Area in an orderly way. For example, the infrastructure connectivity of the Greater Bay Area has been enhanced. The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge has officially opened to traffic, and the Hong Kong section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link has also started operation. Construction of an international innovation and technology hub is progressing steadily, with the development of the "Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao" innovation and technology corridor. Progress has been achieved in investment facilitation, trade liberalization and facilitation of the flow of people and goods, and the extent of market integration in the Greater Bay Area has been greatly enhanced. Policies and measures facilitating Hong Kong and Macao residents to live and work on the Chinese mainland have been introduced, and the sense of fulfillment and well-being of residents in the Greater Bay Area has been greatly enhanced.

Next, we will act in accordance with the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, step up communication and coordination, meticulously organize the implementation, and carry out the follow-up analysis and evaluation, so as to fulfill all tasks set in the outline development plan.

We firmly believe that, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core, we will advance the development of the Greater Bay Area step by step and move toward the objective of building it into an international first-class bay area with the joint efforts of various areas, all departments and different sectors of society.

Thank you!