GBA Brief – News and insight from China's Greater Bay Area

Property Tech and innovation

Shenzhen still a favourite with foreign investors

August 20, 2019

Banking and finance

Banks in Hong Kong look for ways of getting ahead in mortgages and e-wallets

The business sector in Hong Kong has been waiting for more details of the GBA master plan since its initial announcement in February. But there hasn’t been much major progress, particularly in the banking sector. So...

August 20, 2019

Leading the charge in the GBA: Evergrande joins the electric car race

New partnerships point to why the GBA is set to be a key market for electric car sales. Property developers are revving up for action with a new venture that could bring a step change for charging stations. China wants...

July 31, 2019

Property Tech and innovation

Leading the charge in the GBA: Evergrande joins the electric car race

July 31, 2019

Banking and finance

An Rmb2 billion bond deal is a financial first for Macau

China’s Ministry of Finance sells the first ‘lotus bond’ in Macau in a bid to boost the city’s role as an offshore centre for the yuan. Macau wants to focus on promoting the currency to Portuguese-speaking nations...

July 23, 2019

Six of the best: how Shenzhen fared in MIT’s latest ‘smart company’ ranking

Shenzhen has six firms in the latest ‘50 smartest companies’ list from MIT Technology Review, but how does it stack up against China’s other tech hubs? The first time that Huawei was mentioned in MIT Technology Review’s...

July 19, 2019

Six of the best: how Shenzhen fared in MIT’s latest ‘smart company’ ranking

July 19, 2019

How Dongguan is climbing the ladder of China’s most competitive cities

A cluster of 400 robotics and smart manufacturing companies is taking shape in Dongguan’s Songshan Lake science and technology park, the beating heart of the city’s tech sector. That’s helped Dongguan take a...

July 15, 2019

Energy and environment

Too much of a grey area: the GBA needs to track where its pollution is coming from

Policymakers in the GBA have promised to wage war on pollution and there has been some progress in clearing the air. But smog still weighs heavily on the region’s skies, something that will be harder to remedy without a...

July 12, 2019

Energy and environment

Too much of a grey area: the GBA needs to track where its pollution is coming from

July 12, 2019

Grasp the opportunity in the GBA, says HSBC’s Stuart Tait

What’s the Greater Bay Area and how can I do more business there? That was the basic proposition of HSBC’s GBA Connections conference at the end of June, when 60 clients from 13 countries came to Hong Kong for two days...

July 10, 2019

Grasp the opportunity in the GBA, says HSBC’s Stuart Tait

July 10, 2019

HSBC connects more of the dots at its Greater Bay Area gathering…

HSBC’s GBA Connections event in Hong Kong last month brought together a wide range of clients: the Brief spoke to the CFO of a British-based firm of architects, the head of a family investment office in the Middle East...

July 10, 2019

Can DJI’s drones survive America’s darker political skies?

A month ago we reported how the GBA’s skies were buzzing with drone trials. But the daddy of the drone industry – Shenzhen’s DJI – has set its sights on more distant horizons, including new customers from the federal...

July 5, 2019

Can DJI’s drones survive America’s darker political skies?

July 5, 2019

The herd instinct: how Ping An is unleashing its unicorns

Shenzhen’s Ping An is pressing ahead with tech investment, after its startling successes in seeding four multi-billion dollar start-ups. About 50 new unicorns – privately held start-ups with valuations north of $1...

July 5, 2019

The herd instinct: how Ping An is unleashing its unicorns

July 5, 2019

Property

Summer sizzle: land shortage spurs record bids in Shenzhen

An auction for residential land in Shenzhen attracted record deposits of Rmb98.7 billion ($14.3 billion) from more than 80 developers on Monday. The winners paid the highest possible premiums, which the government caps...

June 27, 2019

Banking and finance

Will Shanghai’s new bourse put Shenzhen and Hong Kong in the shade?

A star was born last week as the Shanghai Stock Exchange launched its much-anticipated technology and innovation board. But how might the launch affect Shenzhen’s GEM board, which was set up to entice similar companies...

June 25, 2019

China consumer

Guangdong’s consumers show the way on shopping

Retail sales in Guangdong grew 6.9% year-on-year to Rmb1.02 trillion in the first quarter, according to the statistics bureau. That makes the Greater Bay Area’s home province the biggest consumer market nationwide...

June 25, 2019

China consumer

Guangdong’s consumers show the way on shopping

June 25, 2019

Pony.ai wants to win the robo taxi race in Guangzhou – and in California too

Special zone Nansha is trying to establish itself as a testing ground for new ideas in artificial intelligence. Local start-up Pony.ai – already a unicorn – is one of its pioneering companies in driverless cars. As the...

June 25, 2019

Pony.ai wants to win the robo taxi race in Guangzhou – and in California too

June 25, 2019

How to stand out from the city crowd: can Jiangmen plot a path to glory?

Smaller cities in the GBA have a challenge. Many outsiders won’t know where they are on the map, let alone what they contribute. Another problem is the cities themselves may not have a clear idea about their positioning...

June 21, 2019

How Macau’s casino culture isn’t always so golden

Macau investor Joe Lo talks about some of the social challenges that the gaming enclave still has to overcome, despite the city’s runaway economic success. A few years ago, a Macau company I was involved with...

June 18, 2019

How Macau’s casino culture isn’t always so golden

June 18, 2019

China’s war for talent is being fought on many fronts

The trade war may be making more of the headlines but a ‘war for talent’ is being waged in Guangdong, home to the Greater Bay Area and also China’s most populated province, with 113.5 million people. Last month we...

June 18, 2019

China’s war for talent is being fought on many fronts

June 18, 2019

What Hong Kong’s extradition row says about its place in the GBA

Two weeks of tumultuous protest have forced Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, to suspend indefinitely a controversial bill that would allow people to be extradited to mainland China. After a turbulent 10 days...

June 18, 2019

What Hong Kong’s extradition row says about its place in the GBA

June 18, 2019

High hopes for Hengqin, Macau’s trump card in its bid to go beyond gaming

Local investor Joe Lo looks at the prospects for Hengqin, a small island a stone’s throw from teeming Macau. What is happening on Hengqin and how is it supposed to help the world’s biggest casino economy? Macau is one...

June 7, 2019