The opening ceremony of the 2024 ASEAN-China GBA Economic Cooperation (Qianhai) Forum, themed "Technological Leadership, Industrial Synergy," will take place this morning at the Qianhai International Convention Center. During the three-day event, activities will include keynote speeches, thematic forums, cooperation matchmaking meetings, and a food and culture week that will last through Sunday. The forum aims to strengthen the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership by establishing an efficient platform for economic cooperation, trade, and project collaboration between ASEAN countries and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
In recent years, trade between China and ASEAN has continued to grow. According to the Ministry of Commerce, the volume of bilateral trade reached US$911.7 billion in 2023. China has been ASEAN's largest trading partner for 15 consecutive years, and ASEAN has served as China's largest trading partner for four consecutive years.
Since being launched last year, the forum has incorporated "Qianhai" into its name and been made into an annual event. The Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen, established in 2010, has experienced tremendous development and plays an increasingly vital role in Shenzhen's and China's broader strategic framework.
In 2021, the Central Government promulgated a plan for comprehensively deepening Qianhai's reform and opening up, expanding its geographical scope from 14.92 square kilometers to 120.56 square kilometers.
Last year, the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, released an overall development plan for Qianhai that outlined four key strategic roles for the area, including as a pilot platform for comprehensive reform and innovation and as a high-level portal for international openness.
In 2023, Qianhai achieved a regional GDP of 246.4 billion yuan (US$34.2 billion), a year-on-year increase of 15%. Total import and export volume reached 494 billion yuan, an increase of 6.7%. In the first eight months of this year, the total import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in Qianhai reached 90.86 billion yuan, a year-on-year surge of 231.2%.
Qianhai attaches great significant to three major international platforms — the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Financial City, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Legal-services District, and the Qianhai International Talent Hub.
So far, 424 financial companies have settled in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Financial City, including 98 companies from China's Hong Kong and abroad. The Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong International Legal-services District is home to 235 legal institutions, and the Qianhai International Talent Hub provides 700 public services to international talent.