Hong Kong’s health care expertise can unlock potential of ‘Greater Bay Area’, says former financial secretary

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Availability of improved health and senior care could encourage more Hongkongers to retire in China

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The wetlands in Lok Ma Chau, Hong Kong, and the Futian district in Shenzhen. When linked together, the Greater Bay Area will comprise 11 cities with 60 million people, and a combined economy estimated to be worth at least US$1.4 trillion. Photo: Roy Issa

Xie YuandMaggie Zhang

Published: 12:01pm, 9 Jun 2018Updated: 12:01pm, 9 Jun 2018

In the not-so-distant future, Hongkongers will be able to live out their golden years in Zhuhai, Shenzhen – or any of the nine mainland cities within the “Greater Bay Area” in southern China, all within a short drive from Hong Kong.

They could drive to Zhuhai along the 55-kilometre bridge and tunnel that is linking up the area, or take a high-speed train into Kowloon. Mobile payments could also be a breeze, probably with easier payment access embedded in their WeChat.

This is the picture of future collaboration that was painted by veteran businessmen, including Antony Leung Kam-chung, the city’s former financial secretary, at the Caixin Summit in Hong Kong on Friday. The group had high hopes for the Greater Bay Area initiative, a central government scheme linking nine cities in southern Guangdong province with Hong Kong and Macau to create a financial and innovation powerhouse.

Leung said Hong Kong could use its experience and expertise in the areas of biotechnology, health care and senior care to play a pivotal role in developing these sectors in the region. “The development of health care and senior care sectors in the Greater Bay Area will not only provide better services to mainlanders, it will also encourage more Hongkongers to work, live and retire on the mainland,” he said.

The Shenzhen North Railway Station. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link was put into service in 2011, and the Hong Kong section is expected to be completed this year. Improved travel links and health care facilities could make retiring in China’s southern Guangdong province a realistic option for many Hongkongers. Photo: Xinhua

“We can chase and catch up with the world’s three leading bay areas by building our strength comprehensively [in innovation, finance and advanced manufacturing],” said Leung, who is the chairman and chief executive of Nan Fung Group and chairman and co-founder of New Frontier Group.

The cluster of cities in southern China’s Pearl River Delta will be the epicentre of the Greater Bay Area initiative, one of the world’s largest urban planning and reinvigoration programmes. When linked together, the area will comprise 11 cities with 60 million people, a combined economy estimated to be worth at least US$1.4 trillion, enough to rival other global bay area communities such as San Francisco or Tokyo.