Tapping and Embracing Business Opportunities in the Greater Bay Area (GBA)

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) promotes closer cooperation and coordination between eleven cities – nine cities alongside two Special Administrative Regions, among which Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen – the four core cities – serve as core engines to drive the GBA’s development. It is one of China’s major initiatives aimed at making the GBA the best international bay area comparable to the well-known global bay area economies such as the New York Bay Area, San Francisco Bay Area and Tokyo Bay Area, and a leading technology and economic hub in the world. 

As the nation focuses its efforts on establishing a world-class city cluster, with change comes opportunity, it unquestionably presents more significant and unique business opportunities that benefit a wide range of sectors. It enables, in particular, some sectors such as accountancy, financial services, and real estate – including property management and lease management to thrive and grow, even further expand their business into the mainland China market as the GBA has become one of the regions in China most open to foreign investment.

According to Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary Paul Chan*, the combined gross domestic product (GDP) of the 11 cities in the Greater Bay Area was close to US$2 trillion in 2022, up 25 per cent from US$1.65 trillion in 2019, when China announced the blueprint for the development zone. The growth is expected to be increasing in the future, luring world-class talent and investment. 

Real Estate Sector (Property Management & Lease Management)

Not only is the GBA a technology and economic hub, but also a high-quality environment for living, working and traveling. Considering the growing demand for offices and residential buildings in the GBA, commercial and residential real estate companies, and property management companies can have a chance to grow their real estate portfolio and explore more opportunities. Managing properties is never easy as it involves numerous administrative tasks that are complex and time-consuming. To succeed, property managers can leverage Property Management Software and Lease Management Software to streamline and automate most of the administrative tasks.  

Moreover, it is also worth noticing that China is committed to hitting peak emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, which means that real estate companies in China will need to incorporate carbon emission reduction and sustainability goals into their real estate strategy.

Accounting Industry

Accounting professionals play a key role in supporting the high-quality development of various sectors such as finance, technology and logistics in the GBA, which drives demand for the skills of professional accountants and its supporting technologies such as accounting software. Since the tax regimes, policies and regulations of each city are different, professional accountant and accounting services are requisite in the GBA in a bid to navigate the complexity of the different tax and legal regimes, and assist GBA businesses with their compliance and tax planning.

Finance Services Industry

The rapid development and increasing affluent population of the GBA lead to a growing demand for financial products and services, such as wealth management, insurance, lending, trade finance, cash and liquidity management, and capital and equity markets. It represents a massive opportunity for financial services providers.

It is also worth noticing that China’s ‘3060 Dual Carbon Targets’ have made shareholders and stakeholders recognize the great importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing. There will be significantly growing demand for green finance products and services like green bond issuance, green assets, green loans, and so on, fostering a comprehensive green and sustainable finance ecosystem in the GBA.