December 20 marks the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China, and a flash 
mob event themed "Budding Zhuhai and Macao, Chasing Dreams in the Greater Bay 
Area" was held at places such as the Hengqin Port of Zhuhai, a city of the 
neighboring Guangdong Province on the mainland. According to the Information 
Office of the People's Government of Zhuhai Municipality, more than 700 young 
people from Macao and Zhuhai participated and celebrated the return of Macao 
and their integrated development with chorus and street dance.

Zhuhai, adjacent to Macao, has now become the gateway and frontrunner for 
cooperation between the mainland and Macao. In recent years, Macao has actively 
integrated into China's overall development and promoted a moderately 
diversified economic development, to which,  Hengqin New Area of Zhuhai, 
separated by a river from Macao with the nearest distance of 187 meters, is now 
regarded as an important platform and supporter.

In February this year, the Chinese government issued the Outline Development 
Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, aiming to continuously 
deepen the mutually beneficial cooperation and promote the coordinated 
development of regional economy.  Lei Wun Kong, a lawyer from Macao has 
witnessed the deepening cooperation among these three places. In July 2016, 
Lei's law firm, established a joint law firm in Hengqin New Area in partnership 
with law firms from the mainland and Hong Kong. Since then, he began to commute 
between Zhuhai and Macao. 

What makes Lei's work across the two cities possible is infrastructure 
connectivity and convenient and efficient customs clearance. "It only takes 
half an hour from my firm in Macao to my Hengqin office." More importantly, 
Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao have continuously deepened their cooperation in 
investment, trade, financial services, science and technology education, and 
social services, providing joint law firms with more possible cooperation in 
legal services. 

Today, shuttling between the two cities for work and life has become a choice 
for many in Macao. As an important carrier of its cooperation with Macao, 
Innovalley HQ has incubated 375 projects large or small since 2015, with 199 
from Macao, and 23 obtaining venture capital funding, totaling 433 million 
yuan. 

In 2018, Neildo Choi, a young entrepreneur from Macao, along with his team, 
started his business in the Innovalley and launched Discover Macao, an online 
travel platform, now offering 1700 tourism-related products, which take up 90% 
of all Macao tourism products. 62% of its registered users come from the city 
cluster of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. "Hengqin provides 
diversified HR structure, physical space and industrial support to Macao 
businesses," says Choi. 

As more and more Macao residents choose to live or work in Hengqin, Zhuhai has 
worked out some facilitating policies. Starting from July 1 this year, for 
example, Macao residents who live in Zhuhai permanently are eligible for the 
local basic medical insurance, facilitating their education, employment, 
entrepreneurship and living. "Now it is more convenient for me to see the 
doctor, with more hospitals to choose from two cities when getting sick," said 
Wu Liqing, a Macao resident who obtained the Zhuhai Health Insurance Card in 
early July. 

Right before the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China, Hengqin New Area 
also had its tenth anniversary. Since its establishment, Hengqin has developed 
six pillar industries in partnership with Macao, including technological 
innovation, featured finance, medical and health, cultural tourism and 
exhibitions, commerce and logistics, and professional services, to help expand 
Macao's industrial development. 

The ever-deepening Macao-Zhuhai cooperation will also help international 
companies to enter the enormous Chinese market, which actually interests them 
most, according to Yang Chuan, director of the Administration Committee of 
Hengqin New Area. Hengqin boasts a unique location in the Greater Bay Area, 
connecting both Hong Kong and Macao, thus providing easy access to 
international exchanges for foreign enterprises. 

Source: The Information Office of the People's Government of Zhuhai Municipality