Hengqin incentivizes e-commerce growth with Macau

The Hengqin Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone has unveiled a comprehensive set of policies to support the development of cross-border e-commerce industries, with a particular focus on assisting Macau-funded enterprises.

The support measures offer a range of incentives, including subsidies of up to RMB100 million for qualified e-commerce demonstration parks and other e-commerce related activities, to support the coordinated development of Macau and Hengqin.

China has established a network of national e-commerce demonstration parks to support the growth of the e-commerce industry. These designated parks receive government subsidies and policy support to develop e-commerce infrastructure, attract e-commerce enterprises and foster innovation.

For example, the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province has the Alibaba-backed Xiaoshan E-commerce Industrial Park, which provides office space, logistics facilities and training programs for e-commerce startups.

Similarly, the Guangzhou E-commerce Industrial Park in Guangdong province offers financial incentives, logistics hubs and shared services to cultivate an e-commerce ecosystem.

These demonstration parks help concentrate e-commerce resources, promote the adoption of new technologies, and enable small businesses to leverage the benefits of e-commerce.

“These new policies are designed to create a thriving cross-border e-commerce ecosystem in the cooperation zone, leveraging Macau’s international advantages and its role as a gateway to Portuguese-speaking countries,” said a spokesperson from the Hengqin authorities.

Under the support measures, demonstration parks can receive one-time subsidies of up to RMB100 million, based on 30% of their fixed asset investment.

Growth model parks are eligible for up to RMB20 million in one-time support, based on 20% of their investment.

To further strengthen the industry, the policies also provide annual operating subsidies of up to 20 million yuan for leading demonstration parks and RMB5 million for growth parks.

In addition to the park-level incentives, the measures aim to improve the live broadcast e-commerce industry chain. Subsidies of up to RMB3 million will be offered for the construction of live broadcast e-commerce bases, and support will be provided to attract leading online live broadcast brokerage agencies and outstanding anchors to the cooperation zone.

To cultivate talent, the policies encourage enterprises to collaborate with universities in Macau and mainland China to provide e-commerce training. Macau youth who complete the training and join enterprises in the cooperation zone can receive subsidies of up to RMB4,000.

E-commerce industry clusters and leading enterprises with an international competitive edge are regarded as empowering the development of the real economy.

Building a cross-border e-commerce demonstration park and promoting e-commerce strategies will enhance the training of e-commerce talents and support the coordinated development of the two regions. Nadia Shaw