New York, Paris ... Greater Bay Area? Beijing’s big idea to transform southern China
The central government is close to revealing the details of a plan to weld nine cities, including Hong Kong and Macau, into an innovative engine of growth
On paper, it’s a dry economic integration plan to merge a string of cities in southern China.
But on the ground, the central government’s “Greater Bay Area” scheme is a part of the vernacular, carrying cachet and the promise of international prestige – at least to some of the region’s younger residents.
Twenty-something Daniel Lin, who was born and bred in the southern city of Shenzhen, said he and his friends were fans of the term, calling themselves dawanquren, or “Bay-Area-ese”.
“It makes us feel like we stand out in the world, that we are as fashionable and powerful as New Yorkers or Parisians,” Lin said.
The same goes for Guangzhou university student Vicky Liu, who says people living in the area see themselves as part of something much bigger.
“Now we think the Greater Bay Area, especially Shenzhen, is as just as international as Seoul and Tokyo but more innovative and aggressive in its economic and technological development,” Liu said.