The Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone kicked off its third anniversary celebrations yesterday, with a two-day media tour of Hengqin. There, local authorities and entrepreneurs hailed the mainland island’s rapid development and its deepening relations with Macao as win-win situations for all.
One of the tour’s speakers, Hengqin’s finance bureau chief Wang Chen Hui, discussed the island’s growing guidance fund with media delegates. This is a 10 billion yuan public-private fund established by the local government to help various industries meet their targets.
According to Wang, the Hengqin guidance fund has played an important role in diversifying Macao’s economy since its inception in August 2023. Its first investment helped fund a lung puncture robot from the Macao-backed firm True Health, for example.
[See more: More than 20,000 people from Macao are now living in Hengqin]
Wang also noted that the guidance fund “had recently signed off and invested in a Macao youth entrepreneurship project by [artificial intelligence company] Extreme Vision.” Other Macao-funded companies supported by the fund include science and tech firms Digifludic, Nanometals Technology, Pachira and Guia.
Integrated circuit companies have also been establishing a strong presence in Hengqin, with Zhang Hanyu – the manager of Hengqin’s Guangdong-Macao Integrated Circuit Design Industrial Park – noting that the local integrated circuit industry generated more than 3 billion yuan in revenue in 2023.
Zhang said that Macao firm Aoshixin Technology was one of the first to settle in the industrial park following the opening of Hengqin’s special customs zone earlier this year. He noted that the company’s founding team were from the University of Macau.
[See more: Construction of a life science industrial park in Hengqin is about to get underway]
The growing ties between Macao and Hengqin were also pointed out by Zhang Xu, director of the Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology in Hengqin. He explained how his organisation had established a joint laboratory with the Macao-based firm Boardware Intelligence Technology, which specialises in telecommunication and information technology. Zhang Xu said he was also looking to expand into the field of artificial intelligence through further collaborations.
The director of the Guangdong Provincial Laboratory for Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Liu Liang, said that more cooperation would also be expected in the TCM sector. “We will establish a platform in Macao,” Liu said. “It will utilise the strengths of Macao to promote the fruits of TCM around the world, especially to Lusophone countries, as well as Belt and Road countries.”
Meanwhile, Hengqin-based Honest Medical China’s chief business officer, Huang Litong, said the company’s staff had greatly benefited from recent measures easing border crossings between Hengqin and Macao. To promote further ties with the SAR, Huang said that her firm – which mainly specialises in the pharmaceutical and health sector – would soon be hiring Macao interns.
[See more: There were 10 million crossings at Hengqin Port in the first half of 2024]
In recent years, Macao and Guangdong authorities have been ramping up integration between the SAR and Hengqin through efforts including the Macau New Neighbourhood housing development, the two-tier customs system and a multiple entry visa scheme.
The SAR’s government has been pushing for stronger ties with the mainland island in an effort to diversify Macao’s economy away from gambling and improve the living standards of its residents.
