Guangdong Free Trade Zone, which is expected to deepen economic integration between Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong, will open on March 18, Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported yesterday. The newspaper said that the launch date was confirmed by the Guangdong Cross-Border E-Commerce Association and by an unidentified source which the newspaper claimed to be close to the matter. According to SCMP, the government-supported association told its members on its official microblog that the date of the Zone’s official establishment had been changed to next Wednesday as the Communist Party head of Guangdong Province, Hu Chunhua, and the governor of the province, Zhu Xiaodan, will attend the launch ceremony. “The provincial leaders intend to launch the Free Trade Zone on [March 18], if no surprise arises,” the newspaper quoted the source as saying. The Guangdong Free Trade Zone, announced together with the Fujian and Tianjin trade zones by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang last December, occupies a total of 116 square kilometres and will serve the Pearl River Delta, which includes Hengqin in Zhuhai. The newspaper said that the original launch dates of the three new zones were scheduled for February 27 and March 1 but were later postponed due to the annual National People’s Congress and The Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference. It remains unknown whether the other two zones will be launched on the same date as the Guangdong zone. Last month, Macau Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On said that the Guangdong Free Trade Zone will bring more opportunities and advantages to Macau in terms of liberalising trade and innovating systems, and hoped the Special Administrative Region and the Chinese province could enhance co-operation in Hengqin as well as in Nansha in Guangzhou. K.L.
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