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Guangzhou
BusinessChina Business

Explainer | How Guangzhou’s tech, innovation mega projects aim to bolster its role in the bay area

  • The provincial capital of Guangdong is actively implementing reforms to transform itself into a competitive and innovation-driven city
  • Guangzhou was appointed last year to be the first city in China to develop a pilot zone for blockchain technology

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The city is pushing for development, particularly in the areas of innovation, new infrastructure and the digital economy. Photo: Shutterstock.
Cheryl Heng
Ever since blueprints for the Greater Bay Area were first unveiled, Guangzhou has been actively implementing reforms to transform itself into a competitive and innovation-driven city.
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With road maps first introduced in 2019, the bay area is China’s ambitious plan to integrate Hong Kong, Macau, and nine cities in Guangdong province into an economic and innovation powerhouse by 2035.

Many of Guangzhou’s mega projects laid out in the past year have been designed to match up to Beijing’s expectations for the bay area. As the city pushes for development, particularly in the areas of innovation, new infrastructure and the digital economy, here are some of the major completed or ongoing projects Guangzhou has implemented in the past year.

China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City

Launched in 2010, the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City marks another flagship venture between the two nations. The 123-square kilometre project sits in Huangpu district, a half-hour drive from Guangzhou’s city centre. It was promoted to a national-level project in 2018, signalling Beijing’s commitment to the venture.

Last August, the Ministry of Commerce and the Guangdong provincial government approved a 15-year master development plan for the knowledge city, focusing on efforts to build an economic hub home to top talent and knowledge-based industries including biomedicine, intelligent manufacturing and information technology.

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