A view of Jingang Avenue in Nansha district, Guangzhou city. (PHOTO: VCG)

By CHEN Chunyou

Nansha, a district of Guangzhou in south China's Guangdong province, is in the center of the Pearl River Estuary. It is very close to Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) and Macao SAR, and covers an area of about 803 square kilometers.

On June 14, an overall plan to promote comprehensive cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao by further deepening the opening up in Nansha district was released by the State Council.

According to the plan, Nansha will be built into an important platform and provide strong support for the two SARs to better integrate into the national overall development.

By 2025, the joint sci-tech innovation mechanism among the three regions will be further improved, with a deepened industrial cooperation and a basically established industrial transformation system. High-quality public resources, such as education and medical care will be pooled at a faster pace in Nansha, making it an ideal place for youth from SARs to live and work, said the plan.

To achieve these goals, the plan proposes key tasks, including building industrial cooperation bases for sci-tech innovation, establishing platforms for youth to make innovation and get employment, and transforming Nansha into a gateway for high-level opening up.

The research institutions from the three regions are encouraged to carry out innovation projects, generate breakthroughs in key and core technologies, and improve public services for intellectual property information together, said the plan, adding that world-famous universities and institutions would be cultivated in Nansha to enhance the capacity for innovation.

For related technologies and research materials that are needed in research activities, preferential tax policies would be implemented for importing if necessary, added the plan.

Nansha would actively push forward the commercialization of Hong Kong's research achievements in fields of electronic engineering, computer science, marine science, artificial intelligence and intelligent city, creating a hub for commercialization in south China, said the plan.

According to the plan, more financial support would be granted to research institutions and innovation entities from SARs in promoting the integration of finance, science and technology. Hong Kong's eligible private equity funds would also be supported in financing Hong Kong-invested innovative technology enterprises in Nansha.

With regards to supporting the development of high-tech industries, it calls for levying corporate income tax at a reduced rate of 15 percent for enterprises in selected industries, said the plan, adding that high-tech industrial bases in intelligent manufacturing, digital industry, cloud computing and the Internet of Things are to be fostered.

In order to make Nansha a pool for high-level professionals, special policies would be explored in talent exchange, stock incentive, technology investment, professional title evaluation, professional qualification recognition and commercial medical insurance.

Qualified international professionals with permanent residence status on the mainland, are allowed to set up sci-tech enterprises and serve as legal representatives of sci-tech institutions in Nansha.

Nansha's public organizations and state-owned enterprises will also provide employment for qualified young SAR professionals, especially those graduating from mainland universities, and offer them accommodation and children's education to make their lives easier.

Nansha will be built to be a comprehensive service base for Chinese enterprises to go global, said the plan. The international economic cooperation with Japan, South Korea and ASEAN countries, as well as the EU and developed economies in North America would be strengthened, further integrating Nansha into the world economy, and becoming a frontier of international economic cooperation.

According to Cong Liang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, this plan will further promote Guangzhou's development, revitalize the ancient city, and help it achieve more in comprehensive urban functions, modern service industry, and international business environment, while further deepening the reform and opening up of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to the outside.