🎉 Big news: the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area just claimed the top spot in the 2025 Global Innovation Index, released by the World Intellectual Property Organization on September 1. It's the first time this powerhouse cluster has led the world!
🌉 Cross-border connectivity has been a game changer. Researchers in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region can now reach Shenzhen’s Hetao Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone in just 30 minutes. Even complex lab equipment crosses the border and clears inspections within 48 hours. Thanks to this innovation corridor, joint research projects among Guangdong, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR have jumped 40% this year.
🔬 Breakthroughs are popping up across the region: Guangdong is building the world's first deep-sea cold spring ecological research facility, the Jiangmen neutrino experiment released its first physics results, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is developing a multi-functional lunar surface robot and mobile charging station. Meanwhile, 'Macao Science No. 1' satellite has orbited Earth over 10,000 times, generating high-precision data for scientists.
🏭 The integration of Guangdong’s nine mainland cities with the modern service industries, finance and research resources of Hong Kong and Macao is deepening. Emerging sectors are booming: the core AI industry now tops 220 billion yuan (around $31 billion), and there are nine trillion-level industrial clusters laying the foundation for high-quality growth.
📊 Although the Greater Bay Area covers less than 0.6% of the Chinese mainland's land area, it contributes one-ninth of the country’s total economic output, making it one of the most open and dynamic economic regions in the Chinese mainland.
🗓️ In mid-December, the Central Economic Work Conference reiterated the goal of building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into an international center for technological innovation, bringing fresh policy support to the region’s tech ambitions.
🚀 Looking ahead, the Greater Bay Area is setting its sights on the low-altitude economy and bio-manufacturing. Plans are in motion to launch five more trillion-level industrial clusters and accelerate the shift of industries like electronics and advanced equipment manufacturing toward high-end, intelligent development.
👀 Keep your eyes on this tech powerhouse as it gears up to light up the global innovation map!
Reference(s):
China's Greater Bay Area eyes global hub for tech innovation
cgtn.com
