China’s plans for Greater Bay Area common market should consider EU as model, think tank says
- A proposal for deeper integration of China’s Greater Bay Area has pointed to the European Union as a useful example of a common market
- Suggestions include removing barriers in service industries, market access to build unified, resilient area
Doing so would mean aligning rules and standards to facilitate greater flows of people and goods throughout the region, according to a proposal released by the Guangzhou Institute of the Greater Bay Area, headed by prominent political scientist Zheng Yongnian.
Zheng’s team recommended a personnel mobility system similar to that of Europe’s Schengen area to attract top scientific and technological talent.
It is not a copy of … the EU Common Market … Its focus is the free flow of resource factors
The Bay Area Technology Immigration Programme, as the institute named it, would also feature a long-term residence visa similar to how other places recruit skilled immigrants for employment in hi-tech fields.
“It is not a copy of the super-sovereign state model of the EU Common Market,” the proposal authors said. “Its focus is the free flow of resource factors and optimal allocation of resources within the region.”
He Dongni, academic deputy dean at the institute, said integration is vital to address challenges like decoupling, supply chain shifts and tech controls through a resilient and unified domestic market.
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China's ambitious plan to develop it own ‘Greater Bay Area’
The goal is to ensure seamless connectivity of the region in two years and high compatibility by 2035, she said.
