Deal paves way for Hong Kong residents to buy homes, educate children with ease in Greater Bay Area

City leader Carrie Lam and Guangdong provincial governor sign agreement covering 57 measures to boost integration

Under the pact, Hongkongers will be able to open personal bank accounts over the border without leaving the city

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Shenzhen, the Guangdong province city that Beijing hopes will be the linchpin of the Greater Bay Area. Photo: Reuters

Published: 10:14pm, 30 Oct 2020Updated: 9:44am, 31 Oct 2020

Hong Kong residents will find it easier to buy homes and send their children to public schools in Guangdong province in mainland China under a broad deal signed by top officials on Friday.

The agreement covering 57 measures will knit the two neighbours closer together as the nation focuses on building the Greater Bay Area linking the financial hub and Macau with nine southern mainland cities into a regional powerhouse.

The pact also lowers the entry barrier for Hong Kong service firms to do business in the province and pledges to look at easing restrictions on opening personal bank accounts remotely.

Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor signed the 2020 Work Plan with Guangdong Governor Ma Xingrui through an exchange of letters.

Potential buyers crowd around a model of a residential compound by China Vanke in Dongguan, Guangdong province. Photo: Reuters

It came a day after the end of the Communist Party’s fifth plenum, a four-day meeting of top decision-makers that charted the nations’ economic and political course for the next five years, with technological advancement at its core, according to a communique released on Thursday.

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