Today (18th) marks the fifth anniversary of the release of the “Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area”. The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is a major national strategy personally planned, deployed and promoted by General Secretary Xi Jinping. It is a new attempt to promote the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive opening up in the new era and a new practice to promote the development of "one country, two systems". Over the past five years, the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has taken solid steps and produced numerous fruits. On the new journey of comprehensively building a modern socialist country, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will work together to continue to promote high-quality development in the Greater Bay Area and contribute to Chinese-style modernization.
From blueprint to reality, the world-class bay area is accelerating its "blooming" and constantly painting a new picture of high-quality development. In the five years since the release of the Outline Plan, the comprehensive strength of the Greater Bay Area has increased significantly. The total GDP of the "9+2" urban agglomeration has grown rapidly from about 10 trillion yuan before the release of the "Planning Outline" to over 13 trillion yuan in 2022. The economic vitality of the Greater Bay Area has been further demonstrated and attracted the attention of the world; The Global Innovation Index released by the Intellectual Property Organization shows that the "Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou" innovation cluster ranks second in the world for four consecutive years, the Greater Bay Area's high-level collaborative innovation capabilities continue to increase, and the construction of an international science and technology innovation center is steadily advancing; Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao jointly The Greater Bay Area Global Investment Conference has attracted nearly 5 trillion yuan of investment in just two sessions, which fully demonstrates that global capital highly recognizes and has full confidence in the business environment and the prospects of a higher level of opening up in the Greater Bay Area.
From "hard connectivity" to "soft connectivity" to "heart-to-heart connectivity", the world-class urban agglomeration in the Greater Bay Area is accelerating its integration. In the five years since the "Outline Plan" was released, the "three-dimensional transportation network" in the Greater Bay Area has become increasingly dense. The operation of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-speed Railway continues to be optimized, and the flow of people and vehicles has hit new highs. The construction of major projects such as the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor and the Huangmao Sea Cross-Sea Corridor is progressing smoothly, and a world-class airport cluster in the Greater Bay Area is gradually taking shape. Three plans for Hengqin, Qianhai and Nansha have been released successively to help Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao to connect their systems, making cross-border practice, cross-border education, and cross-border elderly care more convenient; Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao jointly announced 183 "Bay Area Standards" to enhance market integration level and promote connectivity in the Greater Bay Area. Since last year, with the implementation of policies such as "Hong Kong cars going north", "Macau cars going north" and "flying via Zhuhai and Hong Kong", the "two-way rush" of "north and south" in the Bay Area has become the "new normal". During the Spring Festival holiday that just passed, more than 2 million Hong Kong and Macao residents traveled to Guangdong via Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai in the first five days; from February 10 to 16, about 2.1 million mainland tourists visited Hong Kong and Macao. The "multi-dimensional" integration of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has made significant progress, laying a solid foundation for high-quality development.
We firmly believe that in the new era and new journey, Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will seize the opportunity and work together to build the Greater Bay Area into a strategic fulcrum of the new development pattern, a demonstration site for high-quality development, and a leading place for Chinese-style modernization, and contribute to the construction of a strong country. , make new and greater contributions to national rejuvenation.