The Integrated Development Plan for the merger of Hengqin New Area, the Zhuhai Free Trade Zone and the neighboring Hongwan and Wanzai areas into a new urban center has been posted by the Hengqin New Area Urban Planning & Land Resources Bureau for public review from 11 May to 9 June 2018.

According to the plan, the integrated zone will be extended to Jiangjun Mountain in the north, Small Hengqin Mountain in the south, Modaomen Waterway in the west and Qianshan and Qixinxia waterways as well as the Zhuhai-Macau Cross-Border Industrial Zone in the east.

There will be 15 primary schools, seven middle schools, five high schools, two comprehensive sports centers and one community sports park within the center, according to the plan. It will also boast five hospitals including two with Class-A facilities.

The new zone will promote development of the Guangdong Pilot FTZ Hengqin Area and Gaolan Port Economic Zone to become a free trade port.

Guangzhou-Zhuhai Intercity MRT Extension Line stations will be set up in Wanzai, Hengqin Shizimen Central Business District and Hengqin Financial Island.

Shizimen Station will connect to Zhuhai‘s urban rail transit network, whereas the Guangzhou-Zhongshan-Zhuhai-Macau Intercity MRT will cross the western area of the integrated zone and then head southward, connecting Guangzhou and Zhongshan with Hengqin.

The integrated zone will deepen industrial cooperation between Zhuhai, Hong Kong, Macau and Shenzhen. It will remove space restraints on Hengqin’s development by regionalizing functional zones and creating an integrated layout. According to the Hengqin Government, the plan is to enhance cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, thus stimulating development in the western Greater Bay Area over the next two decades.