Energetic young sophisticated Hengqin

The delegation hosted by Zhuhai Da Heng Qin Co., Ltd, @ Bee+ managed office space

There were times I held an agnostic view of the promoted future of Hengqin.

I hold memories looking from Ocean Gardens in Taipa of Hengqin’s green banana groves and the hill being slowly chomped away, levelled behind them. From where the ferries used to depart at Ponte Cais de Coloane, Coloane Village, could be heard the putt-putt-putt of three-wheeled high-emissions tractors along the water-front road across the ditch. From where we stood everything else appeared quiet and country village-like. It was a mysterious, mythical place: difficult to get to, stories – conspiratorial or real, who knows – of bunkers and tunnels and warnings among the sailing fraternity not to get too close.

Indeed, as the story goes, one Macau dinghy sailor became becalmed on the southern shores of Hengqin only in his bathers and without documentation, not to be seen back in Macau for three days as he was held pending investigation “somewhere over there.” He has maintained the nickname “007” ever since.

Gradually, as the banana groves and dirty tractors disappeared, there were other signs of development. From across the way, we started to sense how quickly infrastructure could be established once officialdom determined the time ripe. I travelled on holidays one Christmas from Macau to return to count from our Taipa windows 17 wind-turbines across the hills of Montanha, now better known as Dahengqin.

In the late noughties, friends who had made reasonable money on Macau’s real estate market were beginning to invest in early residential and commercial property in Hengqin upon rumours of the new University of Macau campus to be built there.

Australian Mission to Chinese Medicine Laboratory, Hengqin

Chimelong Ocean Kingdom was the next development to pique cautious interest – albeit barriers remained to getting there and there existed doubt about its true potential, probably more in the mind than in reality; after all it’s a long way from bananas to banana boats.

A couple of lacklustre economic periods and a dialling-back of the pro-Hengqin narrative pre- and mid-2010s provided validation for Hengqin sceptics.

All the while, the real-estate pundits and the international infrastructure investment hawks maintained their positivity in the face of real barriers to envisioning where Hengqin would sit in relationship to Macau and the Mainland – a promotional story that rang hollow, one that had not coalesced into a cohesive whole for other than the risk-takers or ultra-optimists.

The evidence seen from across the ditch year after year was that all those magnificent skyscrapers failed to light-up from the inside at night. The official strategy had yet to excite popular imagination, population mobility, and heart and mind investment. We in Macau continued to watch and wait: There were still pieces of the jigsaw puzzle missing.

That is now history.

From banana groves to smart cities

The hardware, the concrete evidence of the vision for Hengqin is visible from Macau – the modern city rose from the dust in front of our eyes, but it was not until 2020 when discussions on how legislation would enable integration with Macau, how regulations could be harmonised and what Macau’s jurisdictional responsibilities were to be that business people and community members began to see what the future might look like.

Such legislative foundations post Covid has enabled easier border crossing, vehicle access, better transportation systems both within and across Hengqin.

These provided better familiarity with Hengqin’s offerings, not just for many more people in Macau but also for international markets. Such markets could not be incentivised to invest without legislative support to facilitate easy flow of people, capital, services and goods. Putting the “Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin” label on the vision has also assisted the messaging and branding.

Last month a joint Australian Chamber of Commerce Macau, Australian Trade Commission and Queensland State Government Trade Commission delegation was invited to Hengqin to visit three representative sites of Hengqin excellence.

Travel across from the Lotus Bridge along the Macau LRT into the Immigration Building is one of welcome, not the customary immigration officiousness of eras gone by.

TCM Diagnostics equipment: the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park

It helps that visa waiver provisions are in place for a number of foreign passport holders. These human touches of a smile and encouragement upon entry leave a big impression on visitors be they potential investors or families venturing for a meal or entertainment in the Southern Tourist Zone.

Entering directly into a spick and span, expansive modern, naturally lit shopping mall with decent coffees, cafes, restaurants, banking, transit services, health and wellbeing clinics is another surprise of the modern Hengqin era.

The delegation’s first stop was to the Hengqin International Commercial Center which accommodates a range of enterprises from one-person start-up initiatives at extremely low monthly rentals, to providing larger companies (currently the largest is just over 60 employees) with full office services and advice.

BeePlus, the award-winning asset management operator with administrative headquarters in Zhuhai, provides Grade A offices with intelligent space-management solutions. Tastefully designed dining and lounge areas are dotted throughout the office floors with surprises around corners such as private meditation lounges with massage chairs, and bed-cubes for rest and sleep for those work-a-holics among their tenants.

Weta Workshop’s The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Cultural Experience Center

Zhuhai Da Heng Qin Development Co., Ltd (DHQFZ) which is the driving force behind Hengqin development, provides a broad range of events, services, advice, space and technological support to attract and connect top global projects and teams to Hengqin.

The Deputy General Manager, Liang Ying, spoke to the delegation of Hengqin being an entry point and connection for industrial development, industrial clustering, diversification for Macau and a conduit between China and international interests by bringing together a “Macau platform – Hengqin Space – International Resources.”

Under DHQFZ’s park operations’ model is a wealth of services, facilities and infrastructure which is difficult to encapsulate in any quick introduction: industrial spaces, science and technology innovation centres, international business centres, a Macau Entrepreneurship Valley, and partnered operations with other science and technology centres, food safety innovation centres, multiple international plazas and financial media centres encompassing 4 million square meters.

Dubbed China’s “Silk Road E-commerce”

The road trip to the next stop, the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park on the north-west tip, showcased both the natural and landscaped beauty of Hengqin – it dawned upon me that green aesthetics is possible in this part of the country little experienced in Macau, and is one of the reasons I had been invited to return to experience a walk in those hills and valleys.

The TCM industrial park is not simply a TCM production, research and testing facility but as most of the parks in Hengqin, it includes hotels, commercial enterprises, museums, offices and residential buildings. This cooperation zone houses 233 enterprises, 98 of which are from Macau.

We had the chance to test a diagnostics machine which delivered a cup of herbal tonic appropriate to our ailment. The strength of the vision in this industrial park is encapsulated in 1) the juxtaposition of TCM knowledge and AI capacity, enhanced diagnostics and scanning technologies and systems and 2) TCM drug innovation and high-tech robotics production facilities: a combination of age-old wisdom and big-tech power and knowhow.

TCM innovation in Hengqin beyond research and production can be found in service and treatment to the public in a resort environment.

The focus on aesthetics, culture, international resources and integration with Macau is also apparent here in another surprising investment – the Traditional Chinese Medicine Cultural Experience Center. In the shape of a mythical flower-pod evocative of Macau’s lotus, the museum houses an immersive experience telling TCM’s historical journey through the story of the mythological character, Shen Lang. The project brings together talent from China, Macau and New Zealand, including Weta Workshop’s co-founder, Richard Taylor of Lord of the Rings fame.

The third prong to the visit was HUAFA – the Hengqin Cross-Border E-Commerce Park. To accelerate the development of cross-border e-commerce, Hengqin has developed favourable policies for e-commerce platforms, removed some registration requirements and simplified customs clearance for overseas warehousing of e-commerce exporters.

Using AI and big data, these companies at HUAFA create immersive digital shopping experiences for their customers using digital avatars modelling products in virtual locations or digitally created backgrounds. HUAFA offers services to e-commerce enterprises in their expansion overseas such as production facilities, online platforms and sales outlets.

Energetic young sophisticated Hengqin’s future

Dubbed China’s “Silk Road E-commerce” or “Silk Road in the Air,” cross-border e-commerce is a new trade platform for cooperation with other countries, currently standing at 36.

Of special interest in Hengqin is trade cooperation in e-commerce between China and Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries. Logistics is critical and Hengqin is well positioned as a central point to three large airports within one-hour’s travel. China Southern Air Logistics alone has shipped over 700 million cross-border e-commerce parcels since 2022 with an average annual growth rate of 85%.

Notwithstanding the impressively large scale of the enterprises, technology and hardware, or the developing economic and regulatory infrastructure, the immediate and lasting impression from this mission was in the quality of the people we met: Friendly, sophisticated, highly educated, attentive, engaged and engaging young professionals escorted us throughout the day.

Weta Workshop’s The Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) Cultural Experience Center

Their views of Hengqin are decidedly upbeat: Brian Ku was very keen on Hengqin policies: They “are really attractive to young people like me who want to start businesses or pursue new opportunities” he said. The city planning and urban environment also appeal, being clean, modern and liveable, but for now, Brian is also thankful that Zhuhai’s nightlife, street food, activities and vibrance are not too far away.

Another young professional, Michelle, believes that Hengqin is a place full of creativity and vitality.

Currently one of the 50,000 people living in Hengqin, which expands to a population 200,000 during the day, Michelle has expectations that Hengqin will become a true home for people and that a sense of belonging to Hengqin, of becoming a “Hengqin person,” will become a reality. For her, Hengqin is not just a place to work but can become a place to “settle down … and enjoy peace and prosperity.”

For me, meeting these charming individuals was the highlight of the visit and the one point which convinced me that this time, with investment into these young hearts and minds backing this integrated vision, Hengqin will make good on its promises.

By Special Envoy, Leanda Lee, MDT, in Hengqin

Key Takeaways

Urban transformation. Once a sleepy green expanse viewed from Taipa, Hengqin has evolved into a dynamic smart city. Strategic integration with Macau, legislative reforms, and major infrastructure investments have transformed it into a modern hub for innovation, trade, and sustainable development.

Tradition meets technology. Hengqin’s Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park exemplifies the city’s blend of ancient wisdom and modern science. By combining AI-driven diagnostics with traditional herbal expertise, the zone embodies China’s ambition to lead in health innovation and cross-border collaboration.

The human factor. Beyond policies and skyscrapers, Hengqin’s future lies in its people. Young, cosmopolitan professionals see opportunity, creativity, and balance in this new cityscape—suggesting that genuine social and cultural vitality will drive its long-term success and regional integration.