The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area Initiative (also known as Greater Pearl River Delta Initiative) is an advanced version of the Pearl River Delta Initiative, which aimed mainly the mainland Chinese part of the region. The new initiative was first brought up in the 13th five-year plan (2016 – 2020) of China. In contrast to its predecessor, the Bay Area Initiative intends to highlight the region’s role and aspiration in the global economic supply chain, such as other bay area regions like San Francisco or Tokyo, and also emphasizes the inclusion of the Special Administrative Regions Hong Kong and Macau. Besides this two cities, the city cluster includes nine Chinese cities in the Pearl River Delta (Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Zhuhai, Zhaoqing, Dongguan, Huizhou, Foshan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen) and wants combine each city’s expertise. The key industries of the area, which are very competitive on the global stage, are manufacturing (high-tech), transportation (sea and air cargo services), trade-related services (sourcing, trading, freight-forwarding, finance etc.) as well as the digital and innovation industry.
粤港澳大湾区指的是由广州、佛山、肇庆、深圳、东莞、惠州、珠海、中山、江门9市和香港、澳门两个特别行政区形成的城市群 。是继美国纽约湾区、美国旧金山湾区、日本东京湾区之后，世界第四大湾区。是国家建设世界级城市群和参与全球竞争的重要空间载体。
2017年3月5日召开的十二届全国人大五次会议上，国务院总理李克强在政府工作报告中提出，要推动内地与港澳深化合作，研究制定粤港澳大湾区城市群发展规划，发挥港澳独特优势，提升在国家经济发展和对外开放中的地位与功能。