Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2020complete | Page 106

Is the Greater Bay Area China’s future?
St. Mary's Canossian College, Wan, Hannah - 15
In recent decades, in addition to the famous Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has aimed to reshape the
Pearl River Delta, which includes Hong Kong, Macao, and nine cities in Guangdong province. The goal
was to create one economic entity called the Greater Bay Area. According to the Development Outline
published by the State Council of China on February 18, 2019, the Greater Bay Area will represent China
in industrial competitions worldwide and provide opportunities for internal economic transformations.
This ambitious plan soon caught the attention of the rest of the world. Some, like the BBC, which calls the
Greater Bay Area plan “ambitious but vague,” noticed the vastness of China’s new plan — aimed at
“spurring the economy” — and yet question whether it can truly achieve its goals. Others, looking at the
region’s industries and finances wonder if it truly can compete with Silicon Valley, the other Bay Area,
someday.
While recognizing the Greater Bay Area’s potential, some such as the Washington Post detected Beijing’s
integration attempt on Hong Kong, as the Bay Area plan connects Hong Kong and mainland China through
infrastructure projects and criticized the “steady rollback of political freedoms.” Even Chen Guanghan, a
professor from Sun Yatsen University’s Research Institute of the Development of Guangdong, Hong Kong
and Macao, commented that the “vision of the Greater Bay Area is far more than just a bridge or a railway.
No country has ever tried something like this before, merging different tax and customs and legal systems.”
In other words, the reaction of the international community toward the Greater Bay Area remains
uncertain. Most are still waiting and seeing whether if China truly can pull off such an aggressive economic
plan and merge the region into one.
Indeed, the Greater Bay Area has its unique advantages and the characteristics to be a world-class player,
especially considering its population and size. For instance, while the San Francisco Bay Area has a
population of 7.8 million, the New York city metropolitan area 20 million, and the Tokyo Bay Area 44
million, the Greater Bay Area boasts a population of 69.5 million. Furthermore, its size of 55 thousand
square kilometers also stands out while compared to the New York City metropolitan area’s 21 thousand sq.
km, the San Francisco Bay area’s 18 thousand sq. km, and the Tokyo metropolitan area’s 13.6 sq. km. And
while its relatively low GDP per capita also exposed its weaknesses and the lack of economic efficiency
when contrasted with the other 3 areas, on the other hand, this insufficiency also hints at the region’s huge
potential for growth.
But the true advantage of the Greater Bay Area rests not in its size or scale. After detailed analysis, one can
easily detect that New York is indeed a financial region: for instance, 14 of the 22 world top 500 enterprises
in this area are financial and insurance companies. On the other hand, the San Francisco Bay Area gained its
name as a technology leader due to the well-known Silicon valley and the huge profits its tech companies
bring. There is some diversity in representation of the Tokyo Bay Area, consisting of strong manufacturing
industries covering steel, chemicals, semiconductors, automotive, electronics, and so on. But unlike its
competitors who all had distinct characteristics of their own, the Greater Bay Area has achieved a rare
balance in its industrial structure development. 20 of the world’s top 500 companies are based there and
includes almost all major sectors of the modern industrial system, such as automobiles, home appliances, real
estate, internet, and finance.
In other words, the diversity of industry sectors present in the Greater Bay Area allows it to compete in
multiple sectors on a world-class level. Hong Kong’s financial influence can rival New York, while
Shenzhen’s tech enterprises and internet companies such as Tencent, DJI, Huawei, and ZTE can slowly
grow into strong competitors of the members of the Silicon Valley. Guangzhou’s auto industry and the