Administration of Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone inaugurated

A ceremony marking the inauguration of Administrative organizations of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin is held in Zhuhai City, south China's Guangdong Province, Sept. 17, 2021. Administrative organizations of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin were inaugurated on Friday. On Sept. 5, China's central authorities issued a general plan for building a Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, which is located in the southern part of Zhuhai City in Guangdong Province, just across the Macao Special Administrative Region. (Xinhua/Deng Hua)

GUANGZHOU, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Administrative organizations of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin were inaugurated on Friday.

The management committee of the cooperation zone is meant to coordinate and make decisions on major planning, policies, projects, as well as on important personnel arrangements of the zone, while the executive committee will be responsible for the management of the zone's economy and people's well-being.

Governor Ma Xingrui of Guangdong Province and Ho Iat Seng, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), serve as the directors of the management committee.

Hengqin is located in the southern part of Zhuhai City in Guangdong, just across the Macao SAR.

Ma said at the inauguration ceremony that Guangdong will join hands with Macao to fully implement the tasks related to the construction of the cooperation zone.

On Sept. 5, China's central authorities issued a general plan for building a Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin that spans 106 square km.

The plan defines the strategic position of the zone as a new platform to boost Macao's economic diversification, a new space that makes it more convenient for Macao residents to live and work, a new model to enrich the practice of "one country, two systems," as well as a new high ground for building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Statistics show that the GDP in the Hengqin area skyrocketed to 40.7 billion yuan (6.31 billion U.S. dollars) in 2020 from 285 million yuan in 2009. The number of registered business entities in the area exceeds 55,000, with Macao-funded companies surpassing 4,500.

The Macao SAR will fully grasp the major development opportunities of the plan, work hand in hand with the Guangdong provincial government to promote the construction of cooperation zone, inject new impetus into the long-term prosperity and stability of the Macao SAR, and write a new chapter in the successful practice of "one country, two systems" with Macao characteristics, said the chief executive Ho.