Hong Kong: Trade shows to keep driving business-to-business market

Hong Kong became the fastest-growing business-to-business market last year, covering trade shows, trade magazines and business information, with a market worth $814 million — a year-on-year growth of 21.4 percent.

In its Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2024 to 2028: Hong Kong Summary, multinational professional service brand PwC estimated that the special administrative region will continue to lead the world in the B2B market, primarily driven by trade exhibitions, with a 5.5 percent compound annual growth rate between 2023 and 2028. Trade exhibitions, which accounted for more than half of the B2B pie in Hong Kong, have seen a speedy recovery since the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade shows market in Hong Kong was worth $447 million last year, representing 45.9 percent year-on-year growth.

Macao: Group tour arrivals doubled in first nine months of this year

Macao logged 1.49 million group visitors in the first three quarters of this year, doubling the figure recorded for the same period in 2023.

Among the group arrivals, the number of Chinese mainland visitors rose more than 90 percent year-on-year to 1.33 million, while the number of international group visitors surged 2.8 times to 142,000.

Tourist groups from South Korea and India also saw significant increases from January to September — up 3.9 and 9.3 times respectively, compared with 2023.

Guangzhou: Green electricity to power National Games next year

Guangzhou’s power grid is set to provide green electricity generated from renewable sources, such as water, wind and solar power, to venues and reception areas for the 15th National Games to be held in November 2025.

Going green is one of the core concepts for next year’s National Games, which will be co-organized by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao. For supplying green electricity to the sports event, Guangzhou will build a green grid with a generation capacity exceeding 2.9 million kilowatts by the end of this year.

For the first time, the Guangdong provincial capital will use hydrogen-driven power supply vehicles to provide emergency services at major games venues.

Shenzhen: German testing service firm sets up GBA operations base

Global testing service provider TUV Rheinland opened its operations center for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in Shenzhen’s Guangming district on Nov 1, fueled by its confidence in the city’s business environment and the region’s rapid development.

As the German company’s largest investment in South China in the past five years, the facility covers an area of 15,000 square meters. It is designed as a comprehensive hub that integrates testing and technical development functions, including laboratories for new energy batteries, smart devices, and advanced medical equipment.

The center will provide domestic enterprises with about 2,500 testing and certification services to facilitate their exports to Europe.

Zhuhai: Third GBA services trade fair ends with fruitful results

The 3rd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Fair for Trade in Services wrapped up in Zhuhai on Nov 1 with more than 110 intentions for procurement cooperation secured through exhibitions, business-to-business meetings and road shows.

Representatives of over 110 companies and institutions from 28 countries and regions participated. The Greater Bay Area Service Outsourcing Distribution Center was launched at the opening of the two-day event in Zhuhai, which aimed to provide a platform for consulting services and transactions. More than 110 outsourcing firms have joined the center, covering sectors like cross-border e-commerce, financial services and new energy.

The fair followed last year’s practice of being held in three cities in the Greater Bay Area. Besides Zhuhai, Hong Kong and Macao hosted sessions in October, with 19 preliminary cooperation agreements reached among 12 outsourcing companies.

Foshan: Meeting enhances companies’ economic, trade ties with ASEAN

The 2024 Foshan Entrepreneurs and Association of Southeast Asian Nations Economic and Trade Meeting was held on Nov 2. Executives from more than 50 Foshan companies planning to expand overseas held discussions with representatives of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Entrepreneurs Alliance, focusing on key areas and industries for entering the ASEAN market.

The alliance has established four ASEAN branches — in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Phnom Penh in Cambodia; and Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.

Huizhou: Daya Bay zone tops chemical industrial park rankings

The Huizhou Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone ranks first among the nation’s 2024 High-Quality Development Chemical Industrial Parks — the sixth consecutive year the zone has acquired this accolade.

It also tops the list in terms of cumulative fixed asset investment and investment intensity, and ranked third in economic output.

Dongguan: Esports industry firms rally under new collective banner

An esports industry alliance was launched in Dongguan on Nov 1, with the goal of providing a collaborative development platform and integrating resources along the whole value chain of the city’s esports industry — from design, manufacturing, branding and operations to consumption and business circles.

The alliance is part of efforts to forge a global hub for esports-related accessories like mice, keyboards and gaming chairs, with a projected annual output value exceeding 30 billion yuan ($4.22 billion).

Entertainment service providers, internet cafe chains and other upstream and downstream enterprises in the esports industry have joined the alliance to expand esports consumption and the hosting of large esports events.

Zhongshan: New passenger port to open up routes linking cities in region

The new Zhongshan Passenger Port has successfully passed inspection and is ready to enter service. It aims to open up more routes linking Hong Kong, Macao, Shenzhen and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and explore integration with low-altitude flights, leisure tourism, and the cruise economy.

The port’s new joint inspection building includes six international berths, four domestic berths, and two maintenance berths. The facility will integrate passenger transport, cultural tourism, and the port’s main functions, with an expected 3 million passengers per year.

Jiangmen: HK, Macao ships can now enter city’s ports directly for repairs

Jiangmen has rolled out a direct entry service for Hong Kong and Macao vessels that require repairs, aiming to streamline customs procedures and cut costs.

Compared with the previous practice whereby ships requiring maintenance were treated as cargo by customs and could only be transported to Jiangmen via tugboats or barges, the new service enables vessels from the two special administrative regions to enter Jiangmen directly, saving 100,000 yuan ($14,080) per vessel.

The development will enhance the efficiency of customs clearance at Jiangmen’s ports and bolster the competitiveness of local shipbuilding and repair companies.

Zhaoqing: Customs streamlines clearance procedures for Christmas exports

Zhaoqing Customs have optimized inspection procedures to step up clearance of bamboo, wood and straw products for export to Western markets ahead of the Christmas holidays.

Bamboo, wood and straw items are popular overseas. In the first three quarters of this year, Zhaoqing enterprises exported 1.97 million metric tons of bamboo, wood and straw products valued at $72.1 million.

However, local companies have faced export obstacles this year due to frequent fluctuations in shipping prices and uncertain schedules on routes to Europe and the United States. Customs authorities said the improved clearance procedures will save time and costs for local enterprises.