New jewel in the crown for SARs

As the only coastal area in Guangzhou, Nansha has the unique edge of being almost at the geographical center of the 11-city cluster of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It's a pivot linking the region with other parts of the world, said Mao Yanhua, director of the Institute of Regional Openness and Cooperation at Guangzhou's Sun Yat-sen University.

"Under the country's 'dual circulation' development strategy, Nansha will complement (Shenzhen's) Qianhai and (Zhuhai's) Hengqin economic zones to support the integration of Hong Kong and Macao into the overall national development, while helping to accelerate the high-level opening-up of the Greater Bay Area," said Mao.

He said Hong Kong and Macao boast sound professional services and highly developed legal systems, and are highly internationalized. "Under 'one country, two systems', the two SARs have inherent advantages in the nation's opening-up. Nansha also has complementary strengths through its internal connections on the mainland. The area can expedite its high-end opening-up portal by leveraging the region's trump cards."