With Beijing's blessing, Nansha is set to drive Guangzhou's development while becoming an integral part of an internationally competitive city cluster in the Pearl River Delta.
However, experts warned yesterday that the authorities would have to overcome institutionalised problems such as corruption and reform governance in order to achieve the ambitious goals set out for new development zones.
Nansha's repositioning comes as a major boost for the district after the beating its economic morale took in 2009 when it lost out to Zhanjiang, in western Guangdong, on two massive projects - a Sino-Kuwait petrochemical refinery and a national steel manufacturing hub.
During the annual session of the National People's Congress in Beijing this week, provincial party chief Wang Yang revealed a plan to reposition Nansha as a pioneer to rejuvenate Guangzhou's development.
'I think we can forge a new Guangzhou by positioning Nansha's new development zone as a breakthrough point,' Wang told the Guangdong discussion panel meeting on Monday.
Guangzhou city planning authorities are expected to deliver a new planning proposal for Nansha by the end of this year. City party chief Zhang Guangning said Nansha could be turned into a service hub, connected to Hong Kong's 'business, financial and technological innovation centre'.