Complementary strengths

While investment from Hong Kong and Macao has given impetus to Bay Area development, further integration will require synergy of the 11 cities' distinct advantages.

Li Xi, secretary of the Communist Party of China Guangdong Provincial Committee, told the Guangdong delegation to the two sessions that innovation and technology will be key to turning the Bay Area into the world's most competitive city cluster. He also prioritized the development of an innovation corridor linking Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong Kong and Macao, with their distinctive advantages.

Speaking in Beijing, Dominic Sio Chi-wai, an NPC deputy from Macao, said people in the city have reached a consensus on its role in the Bay Area - to give full play to Macao's strengths and become a world-class tourism and leisure center, and a platform for strengthened ties between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

"My focus for the Bay Area will be on how the blueprint's detailed policies will be implemented," he said.

Li Qingquan, president of Shenzhen University and an NPC deputy from the city, focused on ways to foster the complementary educational strengths of Bay Area cities.

He said Hong Kong has the best higher education resources in the Bay Area, followed by Guangzhou, and then cities such as Zhuhai and Shenzhen. He suggested that Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao should create a joint university, under the "one country, two systems" principle, to consolidate their strengths.

He also proposed establishing campuses for the university in three strategic locations: the Lok Ma Chau Loop border area between Shenzhen and Hong Kong; Zhuhai's Hengqin district, which is next to Macao; and Guangzhou's Nansha district.