Businesses confident in Greater Bay Area project, says survey

Businesses are confident in the prospects of the Greater Bay Area (GBA) project, with over half of business executives planning to expand geographically in the region before 2022, a survey published this week shows. The annual report, titled “Keys to success in the Greater Bay Area”, was launched jointly by KPMG China, HSBC and the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce (HKGCC), and surveyed 747 business executives in the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau across a wide range of sectors. The results showed that about 80% of the respondents expect the GBA to grow faster in the next three years and 52% of them are planning to expand their businesses geographically into the GBA before 2022. About 73% of the surveyed said that gaining access to the GBA market with a total population of more than 71 million is a key motivation for companies to invest in the region. Other attractions of the GBA include getting closer to business partners or customers, access to talent, lower costs and better transport infrastructure.

Larry Drew new coach of CBA’s Guangzhou Loong Lions

Former Cleveland Cavaliers coach Larry Drew will take charge of Chinese Basketball Association side Guangzhou Loong Lions, the CBA club said on Monday. Guangzhou Loong Lions said in an announcement that the club had “made an agreement” with Drew, and that the 62-year-old would officially become head coach after “the audit of registration materials”. Drew replaces Juan Antonio Orenga, who was sacked after guiding Guangzhou to just six wins and 23 losses in this season’s CBA, with the south China side currently languishing in 18th place in the 20-team league. Drew took over at Cleveland in October 2018 before parting company with the NBA side in April 2019.

Guangdong’s foreign trade remains table in 2019

Foreign trade in southern China’s Guangdong Province continued to top the country at 7.14 trillion yuan in 2019, 0.2% lower than the previous year, according to the provincial customs authorities Monday. Guangdong’s exports were 4.34 trillion yuan last year, up 1.6% from a year ago. The trade surplus reached 1.54 trillion yuan, an increase of 11%. Private enterprises contributed to more than half of the total foreign trade for the first time last year, taking up a 51.8% share. General foreign trade in the province reached 3.5 trillion yuan last year, up 4.1% year on year and accounting for 49% of the total. Guangdong’s trade to countries and regions along the Belt and Road rose 6.3% to 1.71 trillion yuan last year, while trade with Latin American countries increased by 8.8%. The European Union (EU) replaced the United States as Guangdong’s third-largest trade partner, with trade with the EU growing by 11.1% to 888.36 billion yuan in 2019.