Despite huge interest in prospects for the Greater Bay Are (GBA), the Covid-19 pandemic interrupted almost all direct contact until January 8, 2023, when some quarantine regulations and other restrictions were lifted. As life and business gradually returned to normal, a high priority was a visit to the booming city of Shenzhen and the Nansha district of Guangzhou, our closest neighbors in the Greater Bay Area.

From September 7-8, 2023, thirty AmCham HK members visited the GBA for the first time in four years, led by Matthew Hosford and Sally Peng, Co-Chairs of AmCham HK’s China Business Committee. Mr. Hosford is the principal banking specialist at the International Finance Corporation in Hong Kong, and Ms. Peng is senior managing director of FTI Consulting. The group met with benchmark companies including BYD Company Limited (1211.HK), Dorabot (www.dorabot.com) and Tencent Holdings Limited (0700.HK), as well as touring the Biosphere 3-Dameisha Vanke Center Carbon Neutral Experimental Zone, also known as the Yantian Biosphere 3, a national model for low carbon practices.  

In Nansha, the AmCham HK group met with district government officials to learn about the Nansha Masterplan, its objectives and Nansha’s strategic positioning in the GBA. Nansha district is one of three major free trade zones designated for cooperation with Hong Kong and Macau, together with Qianhai and Hengqin. There was also a tour to an automated container port and other sites.