The eighth lecture of the "Savantas Liberal Arts Academy Public Policy Study Programme Summer 2021" was held on 19 July. Dr Fang Zhou, Research Director of the One Country Two Systems Research Institute, was the speaker. The lecture was titled " The Development of the Greater Bay Area”. Participants learnt about the reasons why China plans to develop the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and its future development direction.

Dr Fang’s sharing was mainly divided into two parts. He first briefly introduced the two backgrounds for the formulation of the Greater Bay Area plan, with the goal of establishing a core area that can lead the world and helping Hong Kong resolve internal political and economic conflicts.

In addition, Dr. Fang also shared on the development model of metropolitan area in China and the meaning of the "Bay Area". He also emphasized the concept of an outward-looking "Bay" and pointed out that the Pearl River Delta is a concept of cooperation, while "Bay Area" is the concept of an integrated industrial cluster and a common living homeland.

In the second part, Dr Fang explained to the students the future development direction of the GBA, including the construction of an internationally competitive financial core circle, the construction of a global innovation and technology hub, the development of international modern professional service industries, the infrastructure of the GBA and opportunities for young people.

In the Q&A session, participants actively asked questions and exchanged ideas with Dr Fang, such as the role of Hong Kong in the internal economic circulation, structural contradictions in the Hong Kong job market and the development project of Lok Ma Chau Loop. Mrs Regina Ip, Principal of SLAA, also discussed with Dr Fang the possibility of Hong Kong and Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Macao jointly building a deep-water container port on a suitable outlying island of the Pearl River Estuary, the possibility of relocating the Kwai Tsing Container Terminals to a new port and the obstacle of reclamation, as well as the advantage of Hong Kong as an independent customs territory in the Loop Development Project.