Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2020complete | Page 93

was earmarked for the Central Government’s reform and opening over thirty years ago. Shenzhen’s
investment in research and development accounted for about 4% of its GDP, among the top three in the
world along with South Korea and Israel. The Central Government is planning to oversee the “Shenzhen-
Hong Kong technology innovation cooperation area”, hoping to further develop 5G, artificial intelligence,
cyberspace technology and bio-medical technology.
Meanwhile, have you ever wondered what toys, clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, machinery, your
beloved iphone and many other things have in common? A lot of them are actually made in China! Looking
at the back of any one of those objects, you would likely see a small “MADE IN CHINA” label.
But where, exactly, in China are a lot of these objects manufactured? Many are manufactured in Dongguan
and Foshan which are known as the world’s factories and they are a part of the proposed GBA! China is
hoping to transform them from a low labour cost manufacturing base to producing advanced parts and
assembling for Shenzhen’s high-tech industries.
Elsewhere, the flashing lights, the shuffling of cards, the clinking of casino chips, all merge together into one
at Macau. With casino revenue of US$37bn in 2018, Macau is a gaming centre with 6 times the revenue of
Las Vegas which only had US$6.5bn revenue. Together with Hong Kong and Macau’s neighbouring
Hengqin Island, the Chinese government is planning to develop these cities into a tourism hub offering
gaming, theme parks and sight-seeing.
Given the strengths of key individual cities, what is it about the Greater Bay Area that would make it
“greater” than all the other bay areas in the world?
To start with, the Greater Bay Area has a low-cost manufacturing base which ensures seamless cooperation
between the high-tech design companies and the parts suppliers/manufacturers because of their physical
proximity. This is a major advantage compared to other bay areas, such as Silicon Valley which has to source
its parts from China or other low-cost overseas suppliers, resulting in lower efficiency and higher costs than
the GBA producers.
Another advantage the Greater Bay Area has is that further development and upgrading of skills should be
easy to accomplish, considering that much of the labour force is already skilled in manufacturing.
Furthermore, while cities like Dongguan and Foshan morph into high-tech producers and centres of
innovation, secondary areas such as Zhaoqing can take over the lower-end manufacturing. Moreover,
alongside shifting to high-end manufacturing, Dongguan can further expand its service industries, such as
financial insurance, e-commerce and technology services, in order to support its high-tech hub neighbour.
The Greater Bay Area also has the advantage of having a vast population. The 70 million people in this area
not only provides more potential for creative input and a broader base to develop talents, but it also means
that there is a vast pool of relatively low cost labour. This is because the average GDP per capita in the
Greater Bay Area is only US$ 23,000, well below the GDP per capita of the other bay areas of the world
(from Tokyo Bay of US$ 42,000 to San Francisco Bay of US$102,000).
As for connectivity within the Greater Bay Area, China has already invested heavily in infrastructure. For
example, there is the bullet-train network, the HK-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge and other infrastructure projects
which all help to significantly reduce travel time between the cities. The provincial capital, Guangzhou,
which is located at the heart of major railway lines across the GBA will be turned into a transport hub, with
plans to extend its rail and subway network further. For connectivity with the rest of the world, three of the
world’s top container ports, Shenzhen, Guangzhou & HK are in the Greater Bay Area, with established
shipping lines making scheduled visits for exports and imports. The air freight traffic across the Greater Bay
Area at close to 8 million tonnes per annum is already greater than the combined figures of the bay area of
San Francisco, New York and Tokyo. Still there are further plans to turn the GBA into an airport hub by
expanding existing airports’ capacities and transport links.