Hong Kong can connect the Greater Bay Area with the rest of the world, much like San Francisco’s role in the San Francisco/Silicon Valley Bay Area. Both cities are meeting grounds, according to a joint report released by US think tank Bay Area Council Economic Institute and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). The report, “ Bay to Bay China’s Greater Bay Area Plan and Its Synergies for US and San Francisco Bay Area Business ”, released in the US overnight on Thursday, focuses on the connections between the two regions. “San Francisco is the meeting ground between Asia and the US, Hong Kong is the meeting ground for other countries and mainland China,” said Sean Randolph, the report’s lead analyst and senior director at the institute. The report aims to analyse the economic and innovation potential of the Greater Bay Area project, and to examine synergies with the Bay Area that might facilitate collaboration beyond the long-standing relationships the US region already enjoys with China – and Hong Kong in particular. This is the first time an American think tank has been asked to draw up such a report. “We wanted to know their views on the Greater Bay Area ,” said Nicholas Kwan, director of research at HKTDC. The council commissioned the report, which was researched and compiled by the institute. “Hong Kong is intended to play a role as an Asia-Pacific headquarters and business services and innovation centre for the Greater Bay Area region, with emphases in finance; trade and logistics; legal, accounting, and other professional services,” the report says. The council and the think tank also organised an hour-long webinar on the subject in San Francisco on Thursday, and introduced the Greater Bay Area concept to a Western audience. The term “Greater Bay Area” is derived from the San Francisco Bay Area, a multi-jurisdictional region that is the world’s leading platform for technology and innovation, the report said. Following this model, Beijing’s Greater Bay Area plan also seeks to make Southern China’s Pearl River Delta into an integrated global innovation hub . Silicon Valley’s position in the San Francisco Bay Area is roughly analogous to Shenzhen’s in China’s development plan , according to the report. And while San Francisco is an important technology centre for internet, media, design and life sciences sectors for the San Francisco Bay Area, Hong Kong offers the same kind of cosmopolitan energy. In terms of scale, the Bay Area is much smaller. The San Francisco Bay Area has nine counties that include 101 cities, 7.4 million inhabitants and about 18,000 sq km of land. It is home to three major cities – San Francisco, San Jose and Oakland – and also Silicon Valley, the leading hub for hi-tech innovation and development. The Greater Bay Area, on the other hand, is a strategic development plan that links Hong Kong and Macau with nine major cities in China’s Guangdong province under Beijing’s “One Country, Two Systems” model. It encompasses an area of about 56,000 sq km and has a population of about 80 million and the highest gross domestic product per capita in China. The plan aims to create a powerhouse of economic activity ranging from advanced manufacturing, technology and innovation to infrastructure and investment. In both regions, Hong Kong and San Francisco play the role of international connectors. Randolph said both cities rose to global prominence in the mid-19th century as centres of trade and finance, with Hong Kong looking outward to Europe and America, not inward to China, and San Francisco looking westward to Asia, not eastward to Europe. Historical parallels can be found between San Francisco and Hong Kong in their unique paths to development, which speak to the role and influence each has on its surrounding region, he said. “Both have strong entrepreneurial, pro-democratic traditions that embrace risk, disruption and creative freedom over technocratic efficiency,” Randolph said. Hong Kong plays a key role in connecting the Greater Bay Area with international businesses, said HKTDC’s Kwan. As an international financial and business hub, the city is the ideal springboard for accessing opportunities arising from the development zone, he added. The report also said the introduction of the national security law could potentially erode Hong Kong’s role in the region. “Hong Kong’s success as a partner within the Greater Bay Area is intertwined with internal developments. In particular, the national security law enacted in the summer of 2020 and subsequent measures to rein in opposition lawmakers and their supporters have raised concerns regarding freedom of expression, the potential erosion of judicial independence – risks to Hong Kong’s reputation as an open global business centre,” the report said. “The law’s impact on business activity will ultimately depend on how it is interpreted and enforced,” it added. For the foreseeable future, however, the new political environment is unlikely to directly impact the operations of most foreign companies, Hong Kong’s financial markets, or the integrity of commercial law, Randolph said. He said that he also saw significant opportunities for companies and institutions in the Bay Area and the Greater Bay Area to leverage their strengths in areas such as climate change , clean energy, health care, fintech, biomedicine and electric and autonomous vehicles.