Hong Kong: Pact with Shenzhen to push carbon neutrality goal

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Shenzhen have taken a step forward in advancing the development of the carbon market ecosystem.

Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, which runs the city’s bourse, and China Emissions Exchange Shenzhen have signed a memorandum of understanding on collaboration in creating a vibrant, sustainable finance ecosystem in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The agreement aims to support the nation’s efforts to attain peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality by 2030 and 2060, respectively, and drive the growth of Asia’s green finance industry.

Macao: Passenger flow in Qingmao Port sets new heights in Oct

The number of commuters passing through Qingmao Port in October exceeded 2.8 million — the ninth time this year the port has broken records in commuter flow.  

October’s figure was an increase of 12 percent from that of the previous month, with residents from the Hong Kong and Macao SARs, and those from the Chinese mainland accounting for about 50 percent each.

Qingmao Port opened in September 2021 as the newest land crossing linking Macao and Guangdong province. The port has seen a continued rise in the number of travelers using it, establishing itself as one of the nation’s leading land control points in terms of commuter flow.

Guangzhou: First IPR overseas insurance club formed  

Guangzhou — Guangdong’s provincial capital — has established its first intellectual property rights overseas insurance club on Oct 31.

The facility aims to accelerate the creation of a national protection zone for intellectual property rights, and help local enterprises upgrade their ability to manage and respond to risks arising from overseas IPRs.

The club was founded by the People’s Insurance Company of China’s intellectual property insurance center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area — the country’s first intellectual property insurance center.

Shenzhen: Bay area’s new computing service platform in pilot run

The first integrated computing power service platform in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area started its trial run in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone on Oct 31.

Established by the China (Qianhai) Internet Exchange — Shenzhen’s first national-level infrastructure in information and communication, the platform is linked to eight computing resource pools with a computing power of 1,138 petaflops, or a calculation speed of 113.8 quintillion operations per second.

Besides complex scientific calculations, the facility can be used for training deep neural networks to enhance the accuracy and speed of machine learning.

Zhuhai: 7th China International Circus Festival kicks off 

The opening ceremony of the seventh China International Circus Festival and a comprehensive performance were held at Chimelong Theatre on Hengqin Island, Zhuhai, on Nov 4. Some 200 performers from 18 countries and regions are taking part in the eight-day event.

The newly upgraded Chimelong Theatre features a 270-degree panoramic circular stage, three surrounding water channels, and a 360-degree hanging circular track spanning more than 250 meters.

This year’s performances incorporate various art forms, including acrobatics, magic and extreme sports, aimed at enlarging the scope of the traditional art of circus. 

Foshan: Nine-day Kungfu Film Week opens in Foshan

The 2023 China-Foshan Greater Bay Area Kungfu Film Week, along with a performance of the dance drama Wing Chun, has begun at Foshan Grand Theatre. The event, with themed forums, online film exhibitions, drama performances, and a cultivation program for young kungfu filmmakers, will run until Nov 12. 

Since the event debuted in 2017, Foshan — the hometown of Wing Chun grandmaster Ip Man — has introduced supportive policies for the film and television industry. 

The number of film-related enterprises in the city has gone up from 65 in 2017 to 1,750 this year, with a total output value of 5 billion yuan ($686.9 million). 

Huizhou: ‘1-hour economic circle’ creates through fast-lane 

The fast-lane section of the Shaohui Expressway, linking Huizhou city with Longmen county, was inaugurated on Oct 30.

The 61-kilometer-long Huilong Expressway has six lanes in either direction, with 59 bridges and two tunnels. It is designed for vehicles travelling at a speed of 100 kilometers per hour.

The area’s residents can now enjoy seamless travel from Longmen county to various destinations, including the districts of Huicheng, Huiyang and Daya Bay, as well as Huidong county, reducing the travel time to just over one hour. The strategic infrastructure development has paved the way for the creation of a “one-hour economic circle” from northern to southern Huizhou. 

Dongguan: Fair to deepen integration of cultural, tourism industries

A sourcing fair for high-end cultural and tourism products was held in Dongguan from Nov 3 to 5, giving a further boost to integrating the cultural and tourism sectors in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

More than 900 enterprises and organizations showcased 16,000 products and types of services at this year’s fair. An area designated for displaying Hong Kong and Macao products was set up at the main venue. The Hong Kong Trade Development Council said it hopes the event would facilitate the works of outstanding Hong Kong product designers in entering the Greater Bay Area market.

Zhongshan: Record set with new port routes launched

The freighter Changyuan 003 began its journey from Zhongshan’s Xiaolan Port on Oct 31 with a cargo of containerized goods bound for Yantian Port in Shenzhen, from where the goods will be shipped to Ireland.

The new trade route between Xiaolan Port and Shenzhen is among Zhongshan’s five “combined ports” routes that have been introduced so far this year, demonstrating the region’s bid to strengthen trade connectivity and expand its economic reach.

Xiaolan Port handled total throughput of 2.52 million metric tons of freight from January to September, including 343,000 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit) of containerized cargo. Since its launch in October 2021, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’s combined ports initiative in Shenzhen has expanded its network to cover a total of 24 routes. The volume of this year’s container import and export throughput has, so far, exceeded 240,000 TEUs of containerized cargo.

Jiangmen: City offers 3m yuan to woo investment partners

In a bid to attract potential investors, Jiangmen is offering a maximum cash incentive of 3 million yuan for investment partnerships.

The initiative, called “management measures for investment partnership rewards”, was launched on Nov 1. It offers potential investment partners an opportunity to secure a prize of 3 million yuan for introducing eligible projects in Jiangmen. 

Proposed projects must be aligned with the city’s 15 key sectors in the manufacturing industry and involve fixed-asset investments exceeding 500 million yuan each. For projects worth 2 billion yuan, or above 5 billion yuan in fixed-asset investments, various rewards will be offered, with a maximum reward of 3 million yuan per project.

Zhaoqing: New sectors on nation’s SME industrial cluster list

Two business clusters in Zhaoqing — from the hardware industry, and a new energy and intelligent networked vehicles sector — have joined the nation’s 2023 list of characteristic industrial clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises.

According to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the new energy and intelligent networked vehicles industry cluster is located in Sihui, a county-level city in Zhaoqing. 

The cluster includes Xpeng Motors — one of China’s leading producers of new-energy vehicles — and Ruiqing Contemporary Amperex Technology — the Guangdong plant of Chinese mainland battery giant CATL.