Guangdong should stand on its own two feet

The free trade zone mania has spread from Shanghai to Guangdong province. Late last year, the provincial authorities floated a grand scheme to establish a free trade zone in the prosperous Pearl River Delta region by combining the strength of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

As the plan appears to be at its infant stage, there are no details about the exact nature of the combination and it's not clear how the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region fits into a picture conceived almost entirely by officials in Guangdong.

The response from Hong Kong has understandably been lukewarm, at best, as what's in it for the SAR. Hong Kong is already a free trade region and has been one for over 100 years. It's hard to imagine what it can possibly gain from the proposed Guangdong free trade zone.