GBA Briefs

Hong Kong: SAR surpasses target for attracting global talent

More than 81,000 professionals had arrived in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region through the city's various admission programs by the end of last month. The figure was more than double that of the initial target of 35,000 annually. The new arrivals were among the first 120,000 applicants to have been accepted so far out of more than 200,000 applications.

The successful applicants included 46,806 who applied through the Top Talent Pass Scheme, with 44,215, or 94.5 percent, from the Chinese mainland. The program, launched in late 2022, is aimed at attracting professionals with a high income, or graduates from the world's top-ranking universities.

The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme received 71,946 applications in the first 11 months of this year, with 12,521 of them having been approved. Among the applicants, 2,669 hold either a PhD or dual master's degrees.

Macao: Hybrid forum-expo fosters integrated development

The Macao Special Administrative Region and Zhuhai's Hengqin Island jointly hosted the 2nd China (Macao) High-Quality Consumption Exhibition and Hengqin Global Bay Areas Forum from Dec 13 to 17, with a two-day forum on Hengqin, followed by a three-day exhibition in Macao.

The exhibition and forum drew more than 30,000 participants and 150 companies. A diverse range of activities took place to foster integrated development, including a promotional event for Shanghai's Pudong district, an investment matchmaking event for Shanxi province and the Macao SAR, and a display of embroidery of the Yi ethnic group.

Guangzhou: Homegrown ultradeep-water ocean drillship starts trial

China's first independently designed and constructed ultradeep-water ocean drillship, Meng Xiang, meaning "dream", set sail from Guangzhou for trial runs at sea on Monday.

The vessel, designed and built by China State Shipbuilding Corp, can operate in any part of the ocean worldwide. Weighing about 33,000 metric tons, Meng Xiang has a length of 179.8 meters and a width of 32.8 meters. It's capable of navigating 15,000 nautical miles (27,780 kilometers), drilling at a depth of more than 11,000 meters and operating for 120 consecutive days without returning to port. With the most advanced designs, the drillship will primarily undertake major national scientific and technological projects and international drilling missions, after its full completion in 2024.

Shenzhen: Amazon's first Asia-Pacific innovation center opens

Global e-commerce giant Amazon launched its first Asia-Pacific innovation center in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone on Dec 12.

The center is committed to exploring innovative mechanisms and conducting innovative practices for the cross-border e-commerce industry. It will integrate resources from Amazon, industry organizations, experts and scholars, and third-party service providers to galvanize sellers in the Asia-Pacific region to accelerate innovation in product promotion, brand building, digital operations, green development, and the exploration of new business models.

Zhuhai: HZMB welcomes first batch of group tourists

The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge - the world's longest cross-sea bridge - began welcoming group tourists on a trial basis on Dec 15.

Residents from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, as well as the Chinese mainland, are eligible to join the tours, each of which lasts 140 minutes during the trial run. Tickets are priced at 188 yuan ($26.30) per person, with 1,200 visitors allowed daily.

Foshan: Tech firm's investments to fuel intelligent industry

Orbbec - a Shenzhen-based developer of 3D vision systems - secured a 20-hectare plot on Dec 6, and plans to invest 1 billion yuan ($140 million) in Foshan's Shunde district to fuel its intelligent manufacturing project.

As a leading company in the sensor industry, Orbbec is expected to promote growth of the electronic information and robotics industries in Foshan, and provide strong support for high-quality development.

Huizhou: Million-kilowatt wind farm goes into operation

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's first offshore wind farm, with a capacity of 1 million kilowatts, was connected to the power grid and became fully operational on Dec 12. The project, located in Huizhou Port, is expected to generate an annual supply of 3 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity, which can replace 1 million metric tons of standard coal and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2.35 million tons - equivalent to afforesting an area of 6,700 hectares.

Built in two phases, the project features 104 offshore wind turbines, including an anti-typhoon semidirect-drive turbine with the world's largest single-unit capacity of 12 megawatts, and China's first 14-megawatt offshore wind turbine.

Dongguan: City honored for luring talent, job promotions

Dongguan has been named as one of the best cities in China for attracting talents and employment promotion. The honors were granted at the 2023 China Best Employer Awards Ceremony on Dec 15. Dongguan became the only city in Guangdong province to have been recognized in both categories this year.

The awards, initiated by job recruitment portal Zhaopin, is aimed at recognizing leading enterprises in employer branding and providing insights into trends in corporate management and human capital development. The evaluation criteria cover a wide range of aspects, including policies, regulations, systems, activities and achievements related to recruitment and support for businesses in a city.

Zhongshan: Joint data elements service center unveiled

The Data Elements Service Center (Shenzhen-Zhongshan) was unveiled on Dec 13 in Zhongshan, marking a new beginning for Zhongshan and Shenzhen in collaboration in the data elements market, and laying a solid foundation for the digitalization of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Coestablished by the Zhongshan bureau of government service and data, Shenzhen Data Exchange and a technology firm affiliated with Zhongshan City Construction Group, the center will serve to strengthen cooperation between the two cities in research, project development, and data trading, in a bid to bolster the development and utilization of public data resources.

Jiangmen: Marathon draws 20,000 runners from around world

The Jiangmen Marathon 2023 - the city's first event certified by the Chinese Athletics Association - was held on Dec 17. As the largest and most popular road marathon held in Jiangmen, it attracted nearly 20,000 runners from 11 countries and regions.

The run covered a distance of 42.2 kilometers, with 25 entertainment and cheering points. Performances and marketplaces were also organized at the starting and finishing points to showcase Jiangmen's development achievements, history and unique natural sceneries.

Woldehawariat Elyas Desta of Ethiopia and Zhong Jiameng of China clinched the championship in the men's and women's categories respectively.

Zhaoqing: Battery hub sees first direct exports to Germany

Zhaoqing has exported 102 locally made lithium battery energy storage cabinets from its Sihui Port to the Port of Hamburg in Germany via the Yantian Port in Shenzhen. It was the first time that locally produced new energy lithium batteries have been exported directly from a local port to international markets.

Due to the classification of lithium batteries as dangerous goods, the customs procedures for their transportation are stricter compared with ordinary freight. In the past, due to the lack of qualifications for handling dangerous goods at ports in Zhaoqing - a major powerhouse for lithium batteries in China - companies had to export their products from ports located far away from the city.