This region is already a major economic powerhouse, and Beijing has long wanted to see more cooperation among the various jurisdictions. Back in the mid-2000s, officials raised the idea of a Greater Pearl River Delta economic zone, encompassing the cluster of cities mentioned above.

Some local critics see the plan as primarily political – aimed at merging Hong Kong into mainland China. But it covers 10 other cities. The idea is to get all these local governments to work more as a team rather than compete between themselves in too many economic activities. For example, five cities in the region have international-class airports, several of which have big expansion plans. One city is planning a second airport. It might make more sense to coordinate this expansion and avoid waste – but that requires a more regional and top-down approach.

Anyone who knows the area will be aware that the different cities devise and implement many of their own business promotion, and regulatory, social-service and other policies. While competition is in many ways a good thing, the presence of too many rival, splintered authorities can lead to inefficiency. To Beijing’s planners, this must seem like a drag on the development of the country’s biggest and most advanced regional economy.

What does this mean for Hong Kong? If anyone is worried about losing autonomy, it should probably be the local officials in the mainland cities. These urban areas are growing into one another. Better coordination could encourage the development of larger-scale clusters in hi-tech and other industries.

The vision is to create a region on a par with, for example, Tokyo. For this to work, this world-class powerhouse needs an international centre that provides financial and professional services, and global connections.

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Hong Kong is the only city in the region – indeed, in China – that can fully play that role. The Bay Area depends on Hong Kong’s unique strengths and abilities, from our free flow of capital to our legal system. No one has an interest in trying to make Hong Kong into another mainland city.

Traditionally, Hong Kong has favoured free-market economic policies. To many of us, the idea of being part of a national plan is perhaps strange. But Hong Kong’s role has also traditionally been to supplement and add value to mainland economic activities, which have been influenced by Beijing’s reforms since the late 1970s. If national policy upgrades the Bay Area cities into a more productive and energetic super-city, Hong Kong will clearly benefit and rise with it.

Bernard Chan is convenor of Hong Kong’s Executive Council