Hengqin zone spurs growth, attracts talent

With business-friendly environment and improved living conditions equivalent to neighboring Macao Special Administrative Region, the cooperation zone on Hengqin Island of Zhuhai, Guangdong province, is becoming a popular choice for Macao residents to live and work in.

Covering about 106 square kilometers and located across a river from Macao, the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was officially established in September 2021. According to its statistics bureau, over 16,500 Macao residents were living in Hengqin as of September, a 19 percent increase from last year. More than 5,000 Macao people now work in the zone, up nearly 5 percent on a yearly basis.

One of them is Hazel Wong, a young entrepreneur from a Macao family steeped in traditional Chinese medicine. Wong started her own pharmaceutical company in Macao in 2018, and expanded the business to Hengqin in April 2019, just two months after the central government announced plans to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"With these favorable policies and leveraging Hengqin as a springboard, I want to access the bigger markets of the Greater Bay Area and the rest of the Chinese mainland," said Wong.

Her company helps mainland traditional Chinese medicine businesses promote their products in Macao, facilitating the entire process from registration to distribution. "In the future, I hope to promote more TCM products and services to Macao and other Portuguese-speaking regions via the platform of Hengqin," she added.

Wong is also planning to make Hengqin her home. She bought a 130-square-meter house in Macau New Neighbourhood in late 2023, shortly after its opening on Nov 28.

As the mainland's first residential development for Macao buyers in Hengqin, Macau New Neighbourhood offers around 4,000 flats that can accommodate 12,000 to 15,000 residents. The project is equipped with essential amenities including shops, schools, clinics and elderly service centers.

The idea for such a large-scale housing development dates back to the central government's development guidelines of the Greater Bay Area released in 2019, and two years later, when the Hengqin cooperation zone was set up, Beijing reiterated its support to accelerate the construction of this project, with the aim of providing one more option for Macao people to pursue quality living.

Macao is one of the world's most densely populated cities, with around 686,600 people living in an area of 33.3 square kilometers.

The shortage of public housing and high prices for commercial homes caused by this limited land have been a headache for the Macao government and people. The introduction of Macau New Neighbourhood is seen as a welcome relief, as Hengqin is three times the size of Macao.

The houses are priced at about 30,000 yuan ($4,100) per square meter. In comparison, recent official data shows that residential properties in Macao average over 85,000 Macao patacas ($10,600) per sq m. Notably, the architectural style and public service facilities of the housing complex are aligned with Macao standards and systems.

Medical professionals from the SAR, for instance, are allowed to practice at the clinics and to prescribe 290 types of medications available in Macao. Moreover, students can attend nearby Hengqin School, which is affiliated to century-old Hou Kong Middle School — one of Macao's most well-respected schools.

"In Hengqin, I've found a sense of home," said Wong.

Macao entrepreneur Calvin Sio's story is similar to Wong's. He started a technology company in 2018 that makes eco-friendly products from materials like tea dregs and brewing waste.

Last year, he moved his company's research base to a new startup hub in Hengqin, "attracted by the cooperation zone's supportive policies and open atmosphere", which he believes will help him reach the mainland market.

Sio said he has witnessed the transformation of Hengqin over the years. "It used to take a long time to travel from Macao to Hengqin by boat, but now it's a quick 30-minute drive from my home in Macao to my office in Hengqin."

Since last year, Macao single-plate private cars have been allowed to enter Guangdong without having to apply for a mainland vehicle registration plate.

Earlier this month, the third line of the Macao Light Rapid Transit — Hengqin Line — began operations, slashing travel time between Lotus Station in Macao and Hengqin Station in Zhuhai to two minutes.