Guangdong officials endorse proposal to set up so-called Hong Kong towns on mainland China
Officials in the province highlight Macau’s lease of mainland plot as example to follow – although they say more time was needed to study feasibility having neighbourhoods filled with Hongkongers in mainland cities
Guangdong authorities have welcomed a proposal to transplant Hongkongers to new towns in China’s Greater Bay Area project, highlighting Macau’s lease of a mainland plot for its new university campus as a model to follow.
She is expected to attend a meeting of the State Council, China’s cabinet, to discuss Beijing’s ambitious project to integrate nine mainland cities, Hong Kong and Macau into a financial and economic powerhouse.
In a statement seen by the Post, Guangdong’s housing and urban-rural development department cited Macau’s rental of part of Hengqin Island in Zhuhai as “a great innovation under the implementation of ‘one country, two systems’”, referring to the model by which China governs its two special administrative regions.
The island is just 200 metres away from the casino city. About 1.09 sq km of it has been leased for a total of 1.2 billion patacas (US$1.48 million) for 40 years for a new University of Macau campus, and it comes under the Macau government’s jurisdiction.
Should Macau want to renew the lease when it is up in 2049, China’s top legislative body, the National People’s Congress Standing Committee, will have to give its approval.