China Development Bank to offer US$50b of financial aid for GBA

China Development Bank (CDB) announced Monday that it will provide 360 billion yuan (US$50.5 billion) of financing support to the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) this year as authorities called for further efforts to promote the development of the area.

The financing includes 290 billion yuan of loans and a total of 110 billion yuan will be spent on technology innovation and strategic emerging industries, according to the announcement.

The CDB said it will further strengthen the financial support of the novel coronavirus epidemic containment in the area and guarantee the supply of materials for enterprises. It will also work with the local governments to promote the resumption and consolidation of supply chains in the area and the whole world.

Earlier this month, Chinese regulators, including the People’s Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, issued a guideline calling for financial support for the development of the Greater Bay Area.

The guideline put forward 26 specific measures to promote the Greater Bay Area’s cross-border trade, facilitate investment and financing, expand the opening up of the financial sector, promote the connectivity of financial markets and financial infrastructure, and boost innovation of financial services.

According to the plan, residents of Hong Kong and Macao are going to be able to invest in wealth management products sold by Chinese banks in the Greater Bay Area, while those in Guangdong’s cities might include financial products sold by banks in Hong Kong and Macao in their portfolios.

Chinese authorities in February 2019 unveiled the outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area, aiming to develop the region into a role model of high-quality development. The country aims to build the area into a financial center as well as an international innovation and technology hub to facilitate talented worker cultivation and exchanges of resources.

The GBA consists of Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in Guangdong — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing.

Being one of the areas with the strongest economic vitality and most openness, this area plays a crucial role for the national development.

By the end of 2017, the area owned a land space of 56,000 square kilometers with 70 million people living there. With less than 1 percent of China’s land space, the area contributed about 12 percent of China’s economy.(Xinhua)

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