China’s recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) outline a new trajectory of regional development, and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region’s current administration will take its cue from that — anchoring its policy agenda in the growth of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki told a forum.

“The development of the Greater Bay Area stands as a major national strategy, a key focus for Hong Kong’s integration into national development, and an important task that the current administration is advancing at full steam. The recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan on regional development, especially the Greater Bay Area, will provide clear guidance for the future work of the HKSAR government,” Chan said at the 6th Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development forum and prize presentation ceremony in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The fourth plenary session of the 20th Communist Party of China Central Committee approved the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the CPC for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development in October, setting out a top-level design and strategic blueprint for China’s development over the next five years.

Collaboration is the name of the game, said Chan, highlighting the concerted efforts seen across the Greater Bay Area to facilitate regional cooperation, with strong national backing, over the past few years. A package of policies has been rolled out to enhance what he described as “hard connectivity” in infrastructure, “soft connectivity” in rules and mechanisms, and “heart-to-heart connectivity” in people-to-people exchanges.

He referred to the Northern Metropolis, which occupies one-third of Hong Kong’s total area, as a new economic engine and a fresh platform for Greater Bay Area cooperation.

In his latest Policy Address in September, Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu announced the establishment of the Committee on Development of the Northern Metropolis. The committee, to be chaired by Lee, aims to speed up high-level decision-making and “will make the Northern Metropolis an important gateway for the SAR’s integration into the overall national development”, Chan said.

At the forum, outstanding enterprises, organizations and individuals from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao received awards for their contribution to the development of the Greater Bay Area.

Those attending also witnessed the establishment of the Committee on Enterprises Going Global under a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development alliance. The alliance was set up at the 4th forum in 2023.

“The establishment of the committee shows that the overseas ventures of Greater Bay Area enterprises are never a solo endeavor, but always a concerted effort for shared success,” said Hooy Kok-wai, founding president of the Greater Bay Area Association of Listed Companies.

During the forum, Li Dahong, chairman and editor-in-chief of the Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group, called for more collective initiatives to make the Greater Bay Area align with national needs, leverage its own strengths, and chart a new course of development.

Li said the region should spearhead coordinated technological innovation, pioneer the alignment of rules and standards, and champion two-way opening up.

“Looking ahead, over the coming five years, the Greater Bay Area has what it takes become a global cradle for technological and financial innovation,” said Christopher Chuang Tze-cheung, member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and president of Greater Bay Area Fintech Association. “With technology as our wings and finance as our compass, it’s time to capitalize on the SAR’s international stage to tell the compelling story of China and the Greater Bay Area.”

The forum was organized by the Hong Kong Ta Kung Wen Wei Media Group. Representatives from the business and financial sectors also attended to discuss the construction of the Greater Bay Area’s economic, cultural and social sectors.

Contact the writer at sophialuo@chinadailyhk.com