China authorizes Macau’s port zone in Hengqin

China’s top legislature on Saturday voted to adopt a decision on authorizing the jurisdiction of Macao’s port zone at Hengqin port and extended areas in Guangdong Province to the Macau Special Administrative Region (SAR).
The draft of the decision was reviewed at the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress that ran from Monday to Saturday.
Lawmakers said the move was necessary in order to enhance the connection infrastructure between the Macau SAR and the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong and make the transportation, exchanges and trade between the places more convenient.
Macau will administer the port zone and extended areas from the day they are put into use in accordance with the laws of the SAR, according to the decision.
The decision expounds on the range of the aforementioned extended areas and notes that Macau authorities will possess the right to utilize the port zone on lease until Dec. 19, 2049. The lease can be extended with the decision of the NPC Standing Committee.

Guangdong to have nearly 35,000 5G stations this year

South China’s Guangdong Province is expected to build around 34,800 5G base stations by the end of 2019, local authorities said.
In recent years, Guangdong has been accelerating the construction of new infrastructures. By the end of September, the province had built 21,473 5G base stations, ranking top nationwide, according to the provincial department of industry and information technology.
Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Foshan are the top three cities that have the largest number of 5G base stations in the province.
Wang Wenjun, an official with the department, said telecommunication operation enterprises in Guangdong had invested around 11 billion yuan (about $1.56 billion) on 5G network development by the end of September.
For the next step, Guangdong will promote 5G network coverage, speed up free sharing of resources in public places and cultivate more 5G-related enterprises.

Macau’s UM inaugurates research institute in Zhuhai

An inauguration ceremony for the University of Macau-Huafa Group Joint Laboratory and Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institute was held on Friday, with officials from the university hailing the joint laboratory and the research institute as examples of cross-border industry-academia collaboration to align Macau’s development with national development.
The new building of the Zhuhai UM Science & Technology Research Institute took less than six months to complete, and the various research centers are now ready for use.
By bringing together innovative people and advanced technologies from Zhuhai and Macau, the laboratory and the institute hope to create a world-class hub for innovation.
At the ceremony, UM Rector Yonghua Song and Huafa Group General Manager Li Guangning signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement.
Rector Song said that the joint laboratory will provide a platform for UM and Huafa Group to cooperate in various areas, for instance, by promoting the moderate diversification of Macau’s economy and industrial upgrading of Zhuhai.