40 years on from China's first efforts to open up the
economy in the form of the Shenzhen special economic zone (SEZ),
the country is poised to replicate that success on a grander
scale.
The Greater Bay Area (GBA) initiative aims to unite nine cities
in Guangdong province and the special administrative regions of
Hong Kong and Macau in an SEZ of sorts to leverage the region's
massive potential and rival similar hubs in San Francisco, New York
and Tokyo as a driver of economic growth.
The reasoning is clear. The GBA accounts for only 0.6% of
China's land area but hosts 5% of the total population, and
contributes 12% of the country's GDP. In 2017, the combined GDP
of the GBA was US$1.83tn, and the region is set to be the largest economy of its kind by
2020.
