Guangdong invites HK, Macao urban planners

Urban planners from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions can now provide professional services in Guangdong province, provided they register first.

The scope of work for these experts from the two SARs includes strategic planning, concept planning, urban research and design, according to a notice released by the Guangdong Department of Natural Resources.

The urban planners from Hong Kong and Macao who want to practice in Guangdong province must be residents of those cities and must have obtained registration certificates from the Planners Registration Board of Hong Kong and the Land, Public Works and Transportation Bureau of Macao, according to a notice published on the department's website on Monday.

Standards of ethics will be enforced.

"The department will cancel their registrations and withdraw their certificates if they are investigated and found to have violated the law or regulations, or if they have engaged in other bad behaviors or dishonesty while practicing in the province," the notice said.

The department has opened special counters for the urban planners to register and apply for certificates to conduct business in the province, it said.