GBA Briefs - Nov 5

Macao/Zhuhai: Luso International sets the pace in Hengqin

Macao-based Luso International Banking, which provides personal, trade financing and corporate banking services, has opened a branch in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, Zhuhai. It's the first Macao-funded lender to operate in Hengqin since the zone's management authority was set up.

The branch's opening on Oct 26 is seen as a concrete measure to implement the new zone's development plan, enriching the practices of "one country, two systems" principle, and deepening cooperation between Macao and banking corporations in Guangdong province. It's expected to contribute to stronger economic integration between the special administrative region and Guangdong, and serve residents extensively on both sides.

Guangzhou: Huawei's R&D facility gets down to business

Huawei Technologies Co's research and development center in Guangzhou, Guangdong's provincial capital, has begun operations as Huawei Electric Technology Co, an intelligent vehicle-related company of the Shenzhen-based, multinational telecommunications giant.

Construction of the 119,333-square-meter facility began in September. It'll focus on high-end technology for emerging industries, such as the production of smart automobiles and autonomous cars. Guangzhou aims to attract such companies and research institutions in the upper and lower streams of the industrial chain, using Huawei's brand image.

Shenzhen: City tops foreign trade competitiveness ranking

Shenzhen outranked all other Chinese mainland cities in the 2020 Cities' Foreign Trade Competitiveness Top 100 List, according to a recent rankings list published by the journal of the General Administration of Customs-affiliated China Customs.

The southern metropolis' foreign trade grew 2.4 percent year-on-year to 3.05 trillion yuan ($477.7 billion) last year. While the value of the city's imports surged 3.6 percent on a yearly basis to 1.35 trillion yuan, exports rose 1.5 percent to 1.7 trillion yuan.

Among the nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area cluster, Guangzhou ranked fourth, followed by Zhuhai and Dongguan in the fifth and sixth spots respectively. Foshan was 13th; Huizhou, 26th; Zhongshan, 40th; Jiangmen, 45th; and Zhaoqing, 92nd.

Foshan: Foreign-trade growth ranks first again in Guangdong

The combined value of Foshan's imports and exports reached 475.79 billion yuan ($74.51 billion) in the first three quarters of this year, according to the latest statistics from Guangdong Customs. This represents a year-on-year growth rate of 37.6 percent. Overall, Guangdong province saw an 18.6 percent growth rate during the same period.

In the first three quarters of 2021, the growth rate of Foshan's international trade value topped the province for six consecutive months, and is expected to continue to lead in the fourth quarter.

The value of the city's exports stood at 392.74 billion yuan, with 40.1 percent growth, while the value of imports climbed 27.2 percent to 83.05 billion yuan.

Huizhou: Banks join cross-border wealth connect program

The first batch of Huizhou banks involved in the Cross-boundary Wealth Management Connect pilot program began operations last month. Huizhou residents can now join residents of other cities in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao in directly purchasing cross-border investment products.

On the first day of operation, 109 Huizhou branches of six banks, including the Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, offered investment products under both the southbound and northbound trading programs.

Dongguan: GBA University to get green energy research center

Greater Bay Area University, being built in Dongguan and designed to be a leading world-class tertiary institution, is to have an advanced materials and green energy research center.

GBA University, expected to be in use by 2023, has signed a cooperation agreement with the Chinese University of Hong Kong to build an advanced materials and green energy research facility. It's GBA University's first collaboration project with a world-renowned tertiary educational institution. With two campuses to be located in Dongguan's Songshan Lake High-tech Zone and the Binhaiwan New Area, GBA University plans to enroll 10,000 students — half of them postgraduates by 2030.

Zhongshan: 140,000 visitors flock to the lighting fair

The 27th Guzhen Lighting Fair in Zhongshan, which ended on Oct 26, attracted almost 140,000 visitors in five days. More than 30 forums and meetings were held at the event's main venue.

Organized both online and offline, the online exhibition for overseas buyers drew more than 74,500 professional buyers from abroad, while the number of page views on the fair organizer's website soared by 135 percent, compared with last year.

Up to 3,300 companies exhibited their latest products offline. The most popular lighting products covered applications in smart homes, intelligent systems, education and tourism, as well as solar-powered and auxiliary lighting.

Jiangmen: Goal is to be cultural, tourism consumption city

Jiangmen has been included in the second batch of cities vying to be among the nation's cultural and tourism consumption pilot cities. The list, which includes 55 nominated cities, was proposed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance. Only two cities in Guangdong province are on the list — Jiangmen and Dongguan.

Jiangmen has 25 national A-class tourist attractions, three provincial tourist resorts, two national forest parks, five nationally protected cultural heritage units and eight national intangible cultural heritage sites.

Zhaoqing: Region's first offshore bond issued by State enterprise

State-owned Zhaoqing Guolian Investment Holdings, which provides industrial investment, investment management and other financial services, has set the pricing and started bookkeeping for the issuance of three-year, senior unsecured green sustainable bonds worth $300 million. The bond has been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Chongwa (Macao) Financial Asset Exchange.

The bond, rated "Baa3" by Moody's and "BBB" by Fitch Ratings, has been oversubscribed three times. It's the Greater Bay Area's first offshore bond to be issued by a State-owned enterprise in a prefecture-level city.