High-ranked Beijing official needed to ‘parent’ 11 cities if China’s Greater Bay Area plan is to succeed
The 19th party congress next week likely to see more detailed plan for the development put forward
A senior Beijing official with a rank of vice-premier or above should be appointed to coordinate a development strategy for a city cluster, including Hong Kong and Macau, in southern China following a key reshuffle of the Communist Party’s leadership, heavyweight scholars have said.
The 19th party congress next Wednesday is likely to see a more detailed plan for the development of a collective of 11 cities surrounding the Pearl River Delta, known as the “Greater Bay Area”, followed by the appointment of a powerful commander in charge.
Such a proposal came amid concerns that protectionism by individual cities of similar economic functions could hinder Beijing’s efforts to build an economic zone that matches its New York and San Francisco counterparts.
“If you want to have efficient coordination between cities and to implement some special policies, a higher level committee needs to be set up, with supervision of a higher ranking official, preferably vice-premier or above,” Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, an executive councillor to the leader of Hong Kong, said on Monday.
Ip said she would submit the proposal to Beijing through the financial secretary on Tuesday.
Ip’s suggestion is echoed by scholars in Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as business leaders, who think that a powerful central leadership is essential to coordinate works involving two special administrative regions with a different political system and nine mainland Chinese cities.
