The establishment of a research institute for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was announced on June 29, with the release of its first report in Guangdong province capital Guangzhou.

It is founded by the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Guangdong Office of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs, Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences and Southern Finance Omnimedia Corporation.

The institute unites nearly a hundred experts and scholars from Guangdong, Beijing, Shanghai and two SARs, and will cooperate with colleges, universities, research institutes and expert teams across the globe.

Wang Jun, president of Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, said, "It helps develop a high-end think tank to intellectually bolster the construction of the Greater Bay Area city cluster."

The concept of the Greater Bay Area was envisioned years ago, but was made official in the Government Work Report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang this March.

The metropolitan zone in the Greater Bay Area includes nine cities in the Pearl River Delta region, Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions (SARs), according to the report.

The Greater Bay Area presents huge potential, small economic density and rapid development, and its metropolitan area, population and GDP are all about the size of those of the world's three leading bay areas – in New York, San Francisco and Tokyo, said the report.

In 2016, the combined GDP of 11 cities in the Greater Bay Area, including Hong Kong, Macao, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai reached $1.36 trillion. It overtook San Francisco's bay area and drew near to that of New York.

"To promote the construction of the Greater Bay Area, we should develop as an integrated unit, further improve regional soft and hard development environment and seek out common prosperity for Guangdong province, Hong Kong and Macao," said Deng Jiangnian, the executive vice president of Guangdong Maritime Silk Road Research Institute.

A research institute for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is established on June 29, in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong province. [Photo/cnr.cn]