Greater Bay Area developing rapidly, but needs better ‘narratives’: Hong Kong expert

Panel speakers at China Conference in Nansha discuss how infrastructure development shapes cross-border flows of people and goods

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Professor Alejandro Reyes says certain major infrastructure developments such as the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link have not registered on Google Maps. Photo: Xinhua

Denise Tsangin NanshaandWilla Wuin Nansha

Published: 5:42pm, 15 Jan 2025Updated: 10:33pm, 15 Jan 2025

Infrastructure development in the Greater Bay Area has been so rapid that some major projects have not even registered on maps, a Hong Kong-based scholar has said as he and other experts called for better “narratives” and promotion of the new economic region amid shifting geopolitics.

During the South China Morning Post’s annual China Conference on Wednesday, three panel speakers discussed how a slew of infrastructure projects such as railways, roads, bridges and airports in Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province shaped cross-border flows of people and goods.

They called for authorities in the bay area to step up efforts in marketing the “reality” of the economic region to the world, as well as for better coordination between cities in infrastructure and talent development.

In a panel discussion on infrastructure and connectivity, Peter Helis, chief adviser of the investment promotion bureau of the Guangzhou Development District, said it was difficult not to mention infrastructure when talking about the bay area.

“If not, it is like talking about a Ferrari without mentioning its engine,” he told the about 300 attendees. “The infrastructure in the GBA is outstanding, and keeps on developing.”

Professor Alejandro Reyes from the Asia Society Hong Kong Centre said he had seen a number of completed projects during a coach ride from Shenzhen to Nansha in his first post-pandemic visit to the bay area.