Nine mainland GBA cities chosen for national reform pilot

On The Agenda

China’s State Council has approved a two-year pilot program for comprehensive reform of market-oriented resource allocation in ten regions, including the nine mainland cities of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). The plan, announced last month, positions the GBA as a key testing ground for factor-market reform and high-quality regional integration.

According to the Guangzhou Daily, the reform will cover Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. It sets out 22 specific measures across seven categories, including the allocation of land, labor, capital, technology, and data resources.

The initiative aims to address long-standing fragmentation among factor markets and to create a unified and efficient system within the GBA. For instance, universities and public research institutions will be allowed to grant researchers ownership or long-term usage rights over scientific achievements, with up to 50 percent of income from technology transfers directly distributed to contributing teams, according to Jiangmen municipal authorities.

Officials in Guangzhou noted that the city will explore new mechanisms for cross-city land-use trading and flexible labor mobility. Shenzhen is expected to pilot financial-data exchanges and green-credit systems to encourage private and international investment in technology industries.

The program also covers environmental and resource-use reforms, encouraging carbon-trading and water-rights mechanisms across the Pearl River Delta. According to Guangzhou government documents (gz.gov.cn), the reforms are scheduled to run until 2027, with the State Council expected to evaluate progress before nationwide expansion.

Analysts say the move reinforces Beijing’s strategy to make the Greater Bay Area a benchmark for national modernization. By testing policy innovations in factor markets, the central government seeks to promote “one-hour living circles” and an integrated economic zone connecting southern China with global capital and technology flows.

Economists quoted by China Daily described the pilot as “a practical pathway to deepen reform while sustaining growth,” noting that similar initiatives in Shanghai’s Pudong and Beijing’s Zhongguancun helped shape China’s open-economy institutions.

If successful, the GBA experiment could become a model for future nationwide reforms on resource efficiency, digital-economy governance, and cross-regional cooperation. By Times Reporter