Macao: Conference highlights roles of monetary authorities
The 11th Statistics Conference of the Central Banks of Portuguese-speaking Countries was hosted recently by the Monetary Authority of the Macao Special Administrative Region. The biennial event, held online, was originally scheduled for last year, but was put off because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference cemented Macao’s position as a platform for financial services between China and Portuguese-speaking countries and regions.
Representatives of eight Portuguese-speaking nations and regions attended the conference, highlighting the importance and roles of monetary authorities in the post-pandemic economy.
Guangzhou: ‘Industrial chain leader’ to shore up 21 key industries
A thematic meeting on Guangzhou’s new “industrial chain leader” system was held in the Guangdong provincial capital on Oct 8. The system, introduced in June, is aimed at strengthening cooperation between the provincial authorities and enterprises in 21 key sectors, including new-energy vehicles, artificial intelligence and semiconductor industries, and cultivating leading enterprises in these sectors.
Under the system, “industrial chain leaders” from relevant authorities and leading companies will cooperate in building up sound industrial groups, improving industrial ecosystems and upgrading the industries’ development.
Shenzhen: ‘Golden week’ brings 5.8b yuan in tourism revenue
Shenzhen raked in 5.82 billion yuan ($903.2 million) in tourism revenue during the “golden week” National Day holidays from Oct 1-7. It represented an 8.42 percent increase in revenue, compared with the same period a year ago, according to the city’s tourism authorities.
The number of visits to the city reached 5.68 million during the period — up 4.02 percent year-on-year. According to online travel agency Trip.com, formerly known as Ctrip, Shenzhen ranked seventh among the Chinese mainland’s top 10 popular tourist destinations.
Zhuhai: Competitions to discover student entrepreneurs
The 7th Zhuhai University Students Entrepreneurship Competition and the 2nd Zhuhai-Macao University Student Entrepreneurship Competition kicked off on Saturday. This year’s highlight is the addition of a Zhuhai-Macao tourism innovation contest designed to stimulate the vigor of Macao’s cultural innovation industry and promote integration of the two cities’ cultural development.
Macau University of Science and Technology Vice-President Pang Chuan said university students are the most entrepreneurial and innovative among young people. He encouraged students from Zhuhai and Macao universities to cultivate a vision based on the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin and the Greater Bay Area. Such an insight will leverage technology innovations to boost Macao’s economically diversified development.
Foshan: Campaign for proposals on household reforms
Foshan has launched a campaign to solicit public suggestions for deepening reforms of the household registration system. The 13-day campaign — which began Oct 8 and runs through Wednesday — is aimed at creating a balanced development of the household population in nine cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
According to an official document, any registered nonlocal permanent resident in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing who is legally employed and has made social security payments for three consecutive years can apply for permanent-resident status in the city they live in. The successful applicants’ spouses, minor children and parents who are living with them can also settle in the city where the applications are made.
Huizhou: High-end system to boost industrial links
Huizhou’s Huiyang district will build a modern high-end industrial system, underpinned by the advanced manufacturing and modern service industries, to consolidate industrial synergy between Huizhou and Shenzhen. The decision was taken at the recent Sixth Congress of the Communist Party of China Huiyang District Committee. The congress proposed seizing the opportunities created by Shenzhen’s “advanced industrial spillover” and enhancing Huiyang’s various strengths to achieve win-win collaboration with Shenzhen’s development.
Dongguan: Exhibition on cultural and tourism products
Dongguan is to hold an exhibition featuring cultural and tourism products from Nov 5 to 7 in a bid to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in cultural and tourism services in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
There will be 11 exhibition areas with various themes relating to culture, tourism and sports. Exhibitors from the Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and Chengdu-Chongqing regions will take part.
Zhongshan: A shot in the arm to revitalize key business clusters
Zhongshan’s bureau of commerce plans to fortify the city’s dynamic business clusters — market areas with high concentration of interconnected businesses, vendors, suppliers for particular industries. Lighting and clothing industries are two prime examples. According to an official document, the business clusters for these two industries will embrace modern technologies and the internet to create a comprehensive ecosystem. The value of transactions in the lighting and clothing businesses is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion), with 20,000 new jobs created.
Taking clusters for other businesses into consideration to benefit from the same strategy, the city expects the market’s revenue to reach 170 billion yuan by 2025, with an annual growth rate of 7 percent.
Jiangmen: Region’s first ecological environment youth forum
The first Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Ecological Environment Youth Forum was held in Jiangmen on Tuesday. Organizers of the forum include the Jiangmen Municipal People’s Government and the Youth Committee of the China Association for Promoting Democracy’s Central Committee. The discussions centered on economic and social development in the Greater Bay Area, including high-quality and sustainable development of the region’s rail transportation network.
Jiangmen: National Day holidays drew 2.9 million visitors
Zhaoqing received nearly 2.9 million tourists during the “golden week” National Day holidays from Oct 1-7 — a year-on-year growth of more than 52 percent — according to the Zhaoqing municipal government. Tourism revenue during the period was estimated at 970 million yuan ($150.5 million).
Zhaoqing, which aims to become a leisure, tourism and holiday resort in the Greater Bay Area, is promoting history education, outdoor sports activities and farming, and creating new tourism destinations to meet visitors’ needs.
