Beijing approves Guangzhou’s blueprint for 2020
State Council gives green light to city’s ambitious plan but urges integration with HK and Macau
Beijing has approved Guangzhou’s plan to become an international trade centre and regional transportation hub by 2020 with a target population of 18 million residents.
With the blueprint, the southern city aims to regain some of the prestige it held decades ago when it was the mainland’s main economic window to the world.
But the State Council, which approved the plan on Friday, has stressed a holistic approach to building infrastructure in the Pearl River Delta, and asked Guangzhou to further integrate road, port, rail and air links with Hong Kong and Macau.
The Guangdong provincial capital should also use its pilot free-trade zone in Nansha to explore a new cooperation model with the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.
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In the past, Guangzhou’s push to develop its port and aviation facilities did not have Beijing’s full support, as the central government was concerned about the potential impact on Hong Kong, said Peng Peng, a researcher at Guangzhou Society of Social Sciences.