GUANGZHOU: The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou has welcomed Singapore to participate in the development of its Greater Bay Area - seen by some as China’s answer to Silicon Valley.

The initiative hopes to integrate Hong Kong, Macao and nine cities in the mainland province of Guangdong, including Guangzhou.



This was conveyed by Guangzhou Party Secretary Zhang Shuofu, who met and hosted Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat to lunch on Monday (May 27).

Prior to that, both leaders visited the China-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City and reaffirmed its upgrade to a state-level cooperation project in November last year.

It is the first private-sector led project to receive such an elevation of status.

Located less than an hour away from the Guangzhou city centre, the project broke ground in July 2010 and spans 123 sq km.



The knowledge city is also designed to attract high-tech industries and creative talent.

Later in the day, Mr Heng travelled to neighbouring Shenzhen and met Party Secretary Wang Weizhong.

Mr Wang pointed out that Shenzhen’s growth has been nothing short of a miracle - transforming from a small agricultural town and fishing village, to an international city of innovation in just four decades.

“People living here come from all parts of China and around the world and Shenzhen is what it is today because of the innovation, development and investment from friends around the world, including Singapore,” said Mr Wang.

He added the city is very open and inclusive because of its migrant population.

“You will seldom hear people speaking Cantonese here, which should be the local language here, but Mandarin is more often spoken by people,” he said.

In the evening, Mr Heng made a trip to the iconic Lotus Hill in Shenzhen where he laid flowers at a statue of the late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping.

Mr Deng is credited as the architect of China's reform and opening up campaign more than 40 years ago and Shenzhen is the place where it all began - being the first to embrace market mechanisms and integration into the global economy.

Earlier, Mr Heng visited the headquarters of Shenzhen-based social media and gaming giant Tencent.

He was briefed and given a first-hand feel of the company’s technology and latest developments.

The internet company operates the popular multi-purpose messaging app WeChat - which has more than one billion users.

