At the beginning of the year, the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Zhuhai’s Hengqin introduced far-reaching measures to diversify Macao’s economy, bolster job opportunities and make residents’ livelihoods easier.
Chi Tenghui, director of the Financial Development Bureau of the zone, said that the bureau will guide enterprises to expand cooperation with Macao financial leasing platforms, innovate new business models such as cross-border property rights and asset transactions, and encourage more leading public funds to tap Macao markets.
He disclosed that Hengqin is also exploring cross-border applications of digital RMB. The Macao Special Administrative Region government launched a prototype system for “Digital Macao Pataca”, or e-Mop, in December and plans to connect it with the digital RMB and the digital Hong Kong dollar for cross-border payments.
The bureau head stated that the zone is home to about 650 financial firms. To support the SAR in developing modern finance, China’s Ministry of Finance and the provincial government of Guangdong issued 5 billion yuan ($702 million) and 2.5 billion yuan of yuan-denominated treasury bonds in Macao last year. Total bond issuance in the SAR reached an all-time high in 2024.
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Wu Chuangwei, director of the Business Services Bureau of the zone, emphasized the significance of aligned regulatory mechanisms and standards in promoting coordinated development between the two regions.
“We will accelerate the development of enterprises that have obtained the label of ‘Supervised in Macao’, and more product categories such as cosmetics and diamonds will be included in the application of the label,” he noted.
Based on the blueprint of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin issued in 2021, traditional Chinese medicine, food and healthcare products, which are approved and registered in Macao and produced in Hengqin, are allowed to use labels featuring “Supervised in Macao” or “Designed in Macao”.
Li Zhiping, director of the zone’s Statistics Bureau, echoed the significance of integrated standards, saying that they will innovate industrial accounting methods, and use more scientific statistics to illustrate the achievements of the integrated development of Hengqin and Macao.
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Moreover, he also mentioned that the region is developing an international hub for digital trade and plans to establish a cross-border data trading platform and service center.
Since the global unicorn e-retailer Shein established its cross-border e-commerce live-streaming department in an e-commerce industrial park in Hengqin in April, the zone has attracted many internet heavyweights such as Chinese social media platforms like Bilibili, Douyin and RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu.
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