GBA briefs: Jan 21

Macao: Guidelines for issuance of green bonds published

Non-financial enterprises on the Chinese mainland have been given clear instructions for issuing green bonds in the Macao Special Administrative Region. This follows the joint publication of guidelines on the issuance of green bonds — the first of its kind — by the Guangdong Society for Finance and Banking and the Macao Association of Banks.

Aimed at facilitating cross-border financing, the document clarifies regulations, procedures and application materials for eligible entities. It came after Zhongshan's Mingyang Smart Energy Group issued the first non-financial green bonds in Macao early last month.

Guangzhou: Nansha to build culture island housing 104,000

Nansha's Huigu West district will be transformed into a recreational and culture island that can house up to 104,000 people, according to the Guangzhou Municipal Planning and Natural Resources Bureau.

The island, covering 9.7 square kilometers, will have 16 schools, including 11 kindergartens and a primary school. Cultural centers, sports fields, hospitals and elderly-care homes are also planned. The 60-square-kilometer Nansha free trade zone is the geographical center of the Greater Pearl River Delta region and Huigu is one of the four areas that make up the Pearl Bay cluster at the heart of the free trade zone.

Shenzhen: Inno-tech companies shine at Expo 2020 Dubai

Innovative technology companies in Shenzhen exhibited about 350 high-end products at the Expo 2020 Dubai's Guangdong Week, which started both online and offline on Jan 11.

Shenzhen-based UBTECH showcased large humanoid service robots, such as the Panda Robot and the Walker X. A biotech company, MGI Tech, displayed its ultra-high throughput sequencer DNBSEQ-T7, which is also called a "life science super computer".

Zhuhai: New incentives offered to lure foreign investment

The Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone on Zhuhai's Hengqin island has issued two policies in a bid to boost the development of the modern financial services industry.

The first policy, which will take effect from Jan 29, encourages foreign investors to set up private equity and venture capital funds in the cooperation zone by adopting an innovative cross-border financial management approach.

Under the second policy, which will be implemented on March 1, companies in the zone that have successfully issued bonds in Macao will be granted up to 5.5 million yuan ($900,000) in financial aid. Intermediary agencies providing professional services will each receive 100,000 yuan as an incentive.

Foshan: SME financing platform to lift digital business

The Guangdong SME Financing Platform held its annual conference and awards presentation ceremony in Foshan's Nanhai district on Jan 11.

The financing platform, launched online in January last year, is an important financial infrastructure initiative to refine the business environment in Guangdong province. Since its launch, the platform has accessed 250 sets of administrative data from 34 departments, serving more than 1 million enterprises. More than 780 financial institutions have joined the platform, which has released 1,397 financial products, with cumulative financing reaching nearly 78 billion yuan.

The Guangdong Financial Supervisory Authority said it hopes all participants on the platform will help SMEs get the financial services they need. This will make Guangdong's digital business stay ahead of the curve among other provinces.

Huizhou: Total market value of listed companies exceeds $82b

The number of Huizhou companies that have gone public domestically so far has risen to 17, with five listed last year. By the end of 2021, the total market capitalization of the city's listed companies had reached 523.2 billion yuan ($82.46 billion) — an increase of 145.97 billion yuan, or 38.7 percent, from 377.23 billion yuan recorded in the previous year.

Among the 17 enterprises that have gone public, seven of them had a market capitalization of more than 10 billion yuan each. Three of them are among China's top 500 listed companies. They are EVE Energy with a market capitalization of more than 200 billion yuan, TCL Technology with over 80 billion yuan and Desay SV with more than 70 billion yuan.

Huizhou has implemented a host of favorable policies in recent years to encourage and support enterprises to go public.

Dongguan: Digital economy to get $1.6b boost in next three years

Dongguan will spend more than 10 billion yuan ($1.58 billion) in the next three years to promote digital industrialization and industrial digitalization, and hasten the transformation of traditional industries and breed new pillar businesses.

By 2025, the city aims to level up core industries of the digital economy to exceed 1.3 trillion yuan, with its added value accounting for 23 percent of Dongguan's gross domestic product. The city will select no more than 30 enterprises to receive its support to become leaders in the digital economy. Eligible companies will receive a subsidy up to 2 million yuan for purchasing digital transformation equipment, while qualified leading enterprises could get up to 50 million yuan.

Zhongshan: Finance situation stable, bank loans hit $102b

Zhongshan's finance situation remained stable overall, with steady progress last year. According to the Zhongshan sub-branch of the People's Bank of China, loans denominated in yuan and other currencies totaled 648.65 billion yuan ($102 billion) in 2021 — a net increase of 77.53 billion yuan and up almost 13.6 percent, compared with 2020. Loans of all types have gone up remarkably amid continued refinement of the credit structure.

Bank deposits also saw steady growth. By the end of last year, deposits denominated in yuan and other currencies amounted to 733.29 billion yuan in Zhongshan — an annual hike of about 6 percent, or a net increase of 41.12 billion yuan.

Jiangmen: City, Macao to cooperate in exhibition industry

Political advisers from the Macao Special Administrative Region have raised a number of proposals to promote cooperation between the SAR and Jiangmen in the convention and exhibition industry, as well as youth development. They made the suggestions on the sidelines of the first session of the 14th Jiangmen Municipal Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference held from Jan 10 to 12.

A municipal CPPCC member from the Macao Association of Jiangmen Youths said Jiangmen should make its policies more flexible to provide greater support for small and high-quality projects.

Another political advisor from Macao's business community called for more comprehensive services to be offered to young people from across the world to help them start their careers or businesses in Jiangmen.

Zhaoqing: GBA's first prepared-food industrial park on the cards

Zhaoqing plans to set up the first prepared-food industrial park in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to reinforce the city's position as a high-standard "vegetable basket" and "central kitchen", according to a provincial-municipal symposium.

The park, covering 4.67 square kilometers, would be located in Gaoyao district. So far, 18 companies have shown interest in the project. Currently, Zhaoqing has more than 26 enterprises in the prepared-food business, with total revenue of 1.8 billion yuan in the first three quarters of last year.