Planning experts have shot down ambitious plans to turn Guangzhou's Nansha district into the provincial administrative centre.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences study, commissioned by the city government and released in Beijing on Saturday, suggested moving the provincial government headquarters from the city centre to Nansha and transforming the district into another Hong Kong by 2050.
The Guangzhou Nansha Repositioning and Development Strategy Study attracted heavy media coverage with its bold suggestions for the remote southern district, which comprises about 700 square kilometres of relatively undeveloped rural land alongside some heavy industry.
It also proposed doubling Nansha's administrative jurisdiction by letting it absorb Guangzhou's Panyu district and parts of Zhongshan and Dongguan. In addition, it called on the central government to grant Nansha national development zone status comparable to Tianjin's Binhai and Shanghai's Pudong.
It said Nansha should be forged into an advanced, international maritime city in 40 years, matching Hong Kong and other international metropolises on all fronts. It also urged the central, provincial and city governments to give special policy, taxation and financial support to develop the district.
Guangzhou mayor Wan Qingliang said developing Nansha was an epic project and the academy's report offered guidance for new development directions.
'Today's Nansha is positioned to bear a historical mission and we shall follow national strategy to realise the dream our nation has for Nansha and Guangzhou,' he said.