Hong Kong: Association to give family office development a lift

An association dedicated to developing family offices in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been launched, with a members' conference and an inauguration ceremony held in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

The association aims to serve as a bridge linking family offices in the SAR and the Chinese mainland, and providing a platform for communication and collaboration. Its founding president said the organization not only intends to leverage the strengths of family offices in city, but also promote the businesses of Hong Kong family offices worldwide.

Macao: First training course for legal talents from depts offered

The first training course for legal department personnel in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area was held recently in the Macao Special Administrative Region. Forty-one legal professionals from various government departments took part in the program.

The course covered various topics, such as the legal framework of Macao's Basic Law, civil and commercial law, criminal law, administrative law, litigation systems, as well as specialized lectures on registration and notarization laws. The training also included visits to the city's Public Prosecutions Office and registration and notarization authorities to strengthen participants' understanding of the department's work.

Guangzhou: New railway link to shorten travel time to HK to one hour

Construction has started on a railway link between Guangzhou Railway Station and Guangzhou South Railway Station. On completion, the link will reduce the travel time from downtown Guangzhou to Hong Kong West Kowloon Station of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong High-Speed Rail to just one hour.

Due to be completed by September 2027, the project will significantly shorten the travel time between Guangzhou Railway Station and Guangzhou South Railway Station to 15 minutes. It will further cut the travel time between Guangzhou's central district and Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Macao.

This 16-kilometer railway link spans the adjacent areas of Guangdong's provincial capital and Foshan, and is designed to operate at a maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour. The new link offers greater convenience for commuters in central Guangzhou in taking high-speed rail trains.

Shenzhen: Financial backing provided for technological innovation

Shenzhen has introduced 20 new measures to provide greater financial support for technological innovation.

The southern boomtown will open green channels for loans and introduce exclusive credit products for strategic emerging enterprises, as well as specialized and sophisticated small- and medium-sized enterprises producing novel and unique products. The authorities will support the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in creating a more inclusive and efficient market system to promote innovation, and fully implement a registration-based initial public offering system.

Intellectual property protection will be beefed up through various means, including the setting up of a technology achievements and intellectual property trading center.

Zhuhai: 'Golden Week' sees boom in cross-boundary travel

Zhuhai saw a surge in the number of cross-boundary travelers during the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holiday ending on Oct 6 as tourism in Hong Kong and Macao continue to rebound.

At the height of the holiday, up to 595,300 daily trips were made through the Zhuhai general station for exit-entry frontier inspection. Gongbei checkpoint recorded a total of 2.3 million inbound and outbound trips during the period, while Zhuhai Port on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge registered 96,000 vehicle trips. The inbound and outbound figures were the highest recorded among all ports on the Chinese mainland.

Foshan: Guangzhou-Foshan Bridge scheduled to open next year

Construction of the first phase of the Guangzhou-Foshan Bridge has made significant progress, with 80 percent of the project being completed by Oct 8. The bridge is expected to come into operation next year. Work on Phase 1 of the project, which has a total length of 1.3 kilometers, started on Dec 25, 2020. The main bridge will have a six-lane dual carriageway.

The Guangzhou-Foshan Bridge connects three administrative districts in the two cities. Upon completion of Phase 1, residents of the Jinshazhou area, where the two cities merge, will have faster access to Guangzhou's Datansha Island. From there, they can proceed to downtown Guangzhou by crossing the eastern section of the Pearl River Bridge.

Huizhou: Property sales suspended after 'market disruption'

Huizhou authorities have suspended sales at a residential property project in the city after detecting "market disruption" practices during the National Day holiday.

The housing authorities in Huiyang District ordered that sales of apartments at Poly Sunshine Town be suspended, calling the developer's offering of high commissions an "unlawful sales practice" that has disrupted market order. The initial registered price for flats in Phase 4 of the project was about 15,000 yuan ($2,096) per square meter, but units had been sold recently at between 7,800 and 8,500 yuan per square meter. The offers sparked fears of losses among existing homeowners.

Dongguan: Top talents offered up to 10m yuan housing subsidy

In a bid to attract talent, the Dongguan municipal government has raised the housing subsidy for special-grade talents from 2.5 million yuan to 10 million yuan.

According to the city's Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, special-grade talents include Nobel laureates, members of national academies of sciences, former presidents of renowned global universities, senior executives and research and development leaders from Fortune Global 500 companies, as well as professionals in scientific innovation, technology, culture and sports.

Dongguan has also raised housing subsidies by up to three-fold for four other talent categories, further demonstrating its commitment to enticing top-notch professionals.

Zhongshan: Special aid offered to e-commerce players

E-commerce practitioners from the Hong Kong and Macao SARs will get special support as Zhongshan prepares to host its inaugural cross-boundary e-commerce innovation and entrepreneurship competition, with the aim of boosting the global expansion for enterprises.

Competitors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese, will be offered special support in policy introduction on innovation and entrepreneurship, company registration and setup, funding and resource sharing to speed up their establishment and growth in the city. Registration for the competition is open until Oct 31. Cash prizes of up to 8,000 yuan per team will be awarded in the preliminary rounds.

Jiangmen: Jiangmen enterprises to set a record at 134th Canton Fair

The 134th Canton Fair, which is due to be held in Guangdong's provincial capital, Guangzhou, from Oct 15 to Nov 4, is expected to see significant participation by Jiangmen enterprises. Up to 273 companies from the city have secured 733 booths at the fair, including 49 brands and 226 standard booths — a record high. Jiangmen will showcase its strength in home appliances, kitchenware, sanitary equipment, home products, motorcycles, food and furniture.

A "Made in Jiangmen" exhibition area will be set up, showcasing the city's high-tech, specialized and key manufacturing enterprises and products.

Zhaoqing: Housing provident fund policies optimized

Zhaoqing is optimizing its housing provident fund policies to make utilization of the fund more efficient.

As part of the measures, employees who don't have their own homes and are renting commodity housing in the city, are allowed to withdraw up to 600 yuan from the fund each month — an increase of 20 percent from the previous amount. At the same time, the amount of provident fund loans for families with two or more children and buying their first home has been raised by 30 percent. The new policies are effective from Sept 28 this year to Dec 31, 2025.