An evening view of Canton Tower in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, on July 30, 2019. (PHOTO / VCG)

Guangzhou: Cross-border e-commerce policies for RCEP announced

Guangzhou is the nation’s first city to release supporting policies on cross-border e-commerce for doing business with partners of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a free trade agreement among 15 economies in the Asia-Pacific. 

The measures propose to simplify the process of cross-border transactions in the industry, and encourage financial organizations to strengthen collaboration with cross-border e-commerce enterprises.

Under the new policies, several banks on Aug 5 granted a 10 billion yuan (US$1.54 billion) loan credit to two Guangzhou cross-border payment service providers for enhancing their capability of serving cross-border e-commerce enterprises.

Shenzhen: CUHK opens music school in Longgang district

The Shenzhen Conservatory of Music, also known as the School of Music, was officially inaugurated at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen in Longgang district on Aug 3. It will admit the first group of students in September. 

Composer Ye Xiaogang, the founding dean, said at the opening ceremony that the conservatory will make every effort to build a first-class and comprehensive musical institution within five to 10 years.

Professional qualifications for HK doctors issued

Thirty-seven Hong Kong doctors on Aug 5 received the qualification of chief physician, a high rank in the Chinese mainland official system, issued by the Shenzhen municipal human resources and social security bureau. 

It is the first time that Shenzhen has issued such certificates for Hong Kong doctors practicing in the city. The certificates are normally filed by the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Guangdong province to mainland doctors after examinations, training and years of professional practice.

Zhuhai: More professionals to be in agricultural enterprises

More agricultural enterprises at the municipal level and higher in Zhuhai are allowed to introduce non-local professionals to buttress and propel the development of the city’s rural area.

In addition to the existing 14 agricultural enterprises, 27 more have been added to the latest Zhuhai Directory of Key Leading Enterprises for Talent Introduction and Talent’s Household Registration. Its previous version published in December focused more on industrial enterprises, while the updated one leans toward the agricultural domain. In 2020, Zhuhai attracted 56,100 non-local professionals from all walks of life.

Dongguan: Airport center to aid shipment with HK under construction

Dongguan will accelerate the building of an international airport center to facilitate cross-border shipments between Hong Kong International Airport and the Dongguan port. 

The project is expected to boost collaboration between the two transportation hubs, especially on information sharing and mutual recognition of security inspections. The city will also speed up other related projects, such as establishing a cross-border goods exports center and expanding the smart logistics network.

Foshan: Government plans cash incentives to boost auto sales

Foshan intends to introduce new policies to support auto consumption, with Foshan auto sales enterprises that expand the scale of auto sales expected to receive up to 1 million yuan (US$154,000) in incentives. Consumers planning to buy new- energy vehicles can receive up to 20,000 yuan in subsidies, according to the Foshan bureau of commerce’s latest draft regulation for consultation.

Zhaoqing: Fresh initiatives to support new-energy vehicle industry 

Zhaoqing will double down on investment in the new-energy vehicles industry, which was highlighted in the national 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25). 

XPeng Motors, a leading new-energy vehicle manufacturer that has a production line in Zhaoqing, has delivered 38,778 vehicles from January to July — 1.4 times last year’s total. 

Zhaoqing aims at attracting domestic and foreign manufacturers of vehicles, core components, electronic and charging facilities, with a view to boosting the regional industrial supporting capabilities and technological innovation before 2025.

Zhongshan: Tourism and games expos to be held in mid-October

The 14th Zhongshan International Games and Amusement Fair as well as China (Zhongshan) International Cultural and Tourism Industry Expo will be held at the Zhongshan Convention Center and New World International Exhibition and Convention Center from Oct 10-12.

With the theme of “innovation and integration, high quality development”, the events will focus on displaying the latest global game and amusement products, cultural tourism innovation products, and industry frontier technology, as well as highlighting the latest development achievements of China’s game, amusement and cultural tourism industry.

Huizhou: New-home purchase control tightened to cool down market

Huizhou government announced new-home purchase restrictions to cool down the market on Monday, suspending the sale of new commercial properties in key areas — the Dayawan Economic and Technological Development Zone and Huiyang district — to nonregistered residents with one or more house locally, and enforcing a three-year restriction on newly purchased house sales. This comes a week after the Huizhou government attended talks with country’s housing authorities.

Macao: SAR starts a new round of population census

Macao started a new round of its decennial population census on Saturday, which will last for 15 days. 

About 19,000 households, 7 percent of Macao’s total population of 682,500, completed the online questionnaire on the first day. The ratio is much higher than in previous censuses. 

A detailed report on the census will be released in April. The result, which will reflect Macao’s changing demographic structure, will be an important reference for local government to formulate policies.