China boosts financial support for Greater Bay Area

A financial support guideline for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been issued, the central bank said Thursday.

Photo taken on Oct. 24, 2019 shows a view of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge from the "Ngong Ping 360" cable car in China's Hong Kong. [Photo/Xinhua]

The guideline was jointly issued by the People's Bank of China, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Promoting the development of the Greater Bay Area is a major strategic decision made by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council, and it is expected to have a significant and far-reaching impact on China's reform and opening-up, the central bank said in a statement.

The guideline put forward 26 specific measures for these five areas: promoting the Greater Bay Area's cross-border trade and facilitating investment and financing, expanding the opening-up of the financial sector, promoting the connectivity of financial markets and financial infrastructure, boosting innovation of the Greater Bay Area's financial services, and preventing cross-border financial risks.

The guideline is expected to help further promote financial opening-up and innovation, deepen the mainland's financial cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao, enhance the role of the Greater Bay Area in supporting and leading the country's economic development and opening-up, and provide strong financial support for building a dynamic and internationally competitive first-class bay area and a world-class city cluster, the central bank said.

Chinese authorities in February 2019 unveiled the outline development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, aiming to develop the region into a role model of high-quality development.

The Greater Bay Area consists of Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.