At the 5th Session of 9th Zhuhai Municipal People’s Congress, opened at the Great Hall of Zhuhai on 16 January, Mayor Yao Yisheng delivered the 2017 government report on Zhuhai city.

According to the report, a flurry of 84 systematic innovations came into effect in the Hengqin Pilot Free Trade Zone, nine of which followed suit elsewhere in the province.

There 849 Hong Kong and Macau enterprises registered in Hengqin New Area, an increase of 72%. The Traditional Chinese Medicine Science & Technology Industrial Park of Cooperation Between Guangdong & Macao has attracted 56 enterprises so far and another 16 projects in various development sectors are under construction in the Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Industrial Park.

The number of motor vehicles traveling between Macau and Zhuhai and benefiting from favorable local policies is on the rise.

The cut-through of the main body of the Hong Kong- Zhuhai-Macau Bridge brought it closer to Zhuhai’s goal of becoming the only city in the Chinese mainland that connects by roadway with both Hong Kong and Macau.

Released on 14 February, the Zhuhai 2018 Plan for National Economic & Social Development was also adopted at the 5th Session of the 9th Zhuhai Municipal People’s Congress. Its objective is to bolster Zhuhai’s position as a regional transportation hub supported by the opening of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge later this year.

As one of eight major tasks referred to in the report, the government will advance key area reforms and enhance opening and cooperation; focus on shaping Hengqin as a high-grade portal of opening up and establishing a new pattern of cooperation in the Greater Bay Area era.

The integration of an urban center consisting of Hengqin New Area, Hongwan area and the Zhuhai Free Trade Zone was also in the report.