REGIONAL INTEGRATION
As a “special zone within a special zone”, Reyes said Qianhai’s experiments could shape how the one country, two systems model evolves in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) – the economic region covering Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province.
That ambition is already visible in the numbers. From January to October 2025, Qianhai recorded 16.1 billion yuan (US$2.2 billion) in actual utilised foreign investment, accounting for more than half of Shenzhen’s total, 19 per cent of Guangdong province’s, and 2.6 per cent nationwide.
Under a State Council master plan, by around 2030, Qianhai is expected to align its rules closely with Hong Kong and operate as a highly open economy and internationalised zone.
By 2035, the aim is for it to emerge as a mature, globally competitive hub for trade, innovation and cross-border cooperation.
Several indicators suggest the zone is moving in that direction.
Hong Kong-funded enterprises, seen as a key measure of integration, have risen to 10,000 as of July, approaching the 2025 target of 11,000.
More than 12,000 Hong Kong residents now work and live in Qianhai, already surpassing the 10,000 target set for this year.
When Hong Kong local Elvis Yu moved his startup to Qianhai in 2020, he was looking for something many early-stage companies struggle to find: certainty.
“The key advantage in Qianhai is policy certainty. You know what support you will get, and that is crucial for startups,” said Yu, whose company turns organic waste into sustainable protein through insect bioconversion.
“Qianhai is also highly open to innovation and offers strong platform support for tech companies,” he told CNA.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-qianhai-economic-zone-shenzhen-hong-kong-international-ambitions-5584761
