The Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin is developing four emerging industries. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

The Guangdong-Macao Traditional Chinese Medicine Technology Industrial Park opened its Hengqin-Macao TCM thematic cultural street on Nov 9, marking an important milestone in the preliminary formation of the park's commercial ecosystem.

The cultural street has coordinated the layout of a diverse range of businesses, including high-end medical services, health preservation, TCM heritage brands, retail and dining.

In conjunction with the opening of the cultural street, the Guangdong provincial TCM laboratory launched its first phase project in the park. A batch of high-end original scientific and technological platforms, including the Hengqin TCM large model, a platform for the creation of new TCM, a platform for human immune defense system development, an intelligent computing center, and a platform for zero magnetic TCM syndrome diagnosis equipment development will be prioritized for development.

The park is the first project developed through cooperation between Guangdong and Macao, aimed at promoting the development of Macao's TCM industry.

In addition to the laboratory, a group of pharmaceutical businesses with strong technological capabilities are thriving in the park, including Macau-Union Pharmaceutical, which was founded in 2008. "What we value is the industrial ecology of the cooperation zone, which is conducive to attracting outstanding talents and promoting the transformation of scientific research achievements," said Lau Dai-hang, technical development director of the company's Hengqin branch.

In May, the cooperation zone implemented interim measures for managing "Macao supervised, Macao produced or Macao designed" labels. Six companies, including Macau-Union Pharmaceutical, were authorized to use the labels, providing new avenues for expanding Macao's TCM products and enhancing market competitiveness. This initiative also gives more products a "Macao identity card", facilitating access to the international market.

From policy support and platform construction to innovation-driven technological research and development and outcome incubation, the industrial park is driving the TCM industries of Hengqin and Macao to ever greater heights. By the end of October this year, the industrial park had 239 registered enterprises, including 86 from Macao, and since the inception of the cooperation zone in 2021, there has been significant progress in industries such as such as sci-tech research and high-end manufacturing; cultural tourism, convention and exhibition; and modern finance.

According to official data, the cooperation zone currently hosts 31,506 businesses in the "four new" industries, and in the first three quarters of 2024, the added value of the "four new" industries amounted to 21.6 billion yuan ($2.96 billion), accounting for 57.8 percent of the zone's GDP.

BoardWare Intelligence Technology is a Macao-headquartered company that went public on the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited in 2022. In 2017, it set up BoardWare Information System in Hengqin, engaged in research and application in fields including brain-computer interface and cybersecurity. "The company's choice of Hengqin was primarily because its policies are more favorable to companies from Macao," said Nick Ng, executive director of BoardWare Intelligence Technology and general manager of BoardWare Information System.

"Hengqin is close to Macao, allowing companies to gradually become familiar with the business rules and environment of the Chinese mainland through projects in Hengqin. Additionally, being here makes it easier for the company to recruit more suitable talents," Ng said. "The 'four new' industries in the cooperation zone align with Macao's '1+4' industrial layout, creating mutually complementary development. For instance, we received 800,000 yuan in rewards from Hengqin this year, in addition to support from Macao for being recognized as a key technology enterprise. Hengqin also provided an extra 50 percent in matching funds for our technology fund application in Macao."

Ng also noted that implementation of new personal income tax policies in the cooperation zone is attractive to high-end talents from home and abroad, facilitating their development in the cooperation zone. "This can help companies reduce costs and focus resources on technological R&D and product promotion to enhance their competitiveness," he said. "It also aids the cooperation zone in attracting talents from all directions, gathering new industries and fostering a favorable industrial ecosystem."

In 2022, the Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration introduced income tax incentives for Hengqin. Qualified industrial enterprises in the zone are subject to a reduced corporate income tax rate of 15 percent. High-end and in-demand talent, both domestic and foreign, working in the cooperation zone are exempt from personal income tax on the portion exceeding 15 percent of their tax burden. Residents of Macao working in the cooperation zone are exempt from personal income tax on the portion exceeding their Macao tax burden.

In March, the cooperation zone began to implement the policy of "opening up the first line and controlling the second line" under the close-loop customs arrangements. BoardWare received official approval for tax-exempt imports in the first round of assessments.

Currently, the cooperation zone hosts 27 national and provincial scientific and technological innovation platforms, including four branches of national key laboratories from Macao universities, Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology, Center for Science and Technology Exchange and Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Zhuhai-Hengqin), and the Guangdong provincial laboratory of TCM, among other innovative platforms.

Additionally, the cooperation zone's cultural and tourism industry is thriving. Data for the first three quarters of 2024 show Hengqin received nearly 11 million visits, a 27 percent year-on-year increase. As well, new projects are gathering in Hengqin, offering more possibilities for Macao's diversified economic growth.

In August, the Guangdong-Macao In-Deep Cooperation Zone in Hengqin held a contract signing ceremony for 45 key projects in internet, e-commerce, technology, biomedicine, and health sectors — including nine from Macao.

"The development model of the cooperation zone can set an example for the integrated development of Macao and the Chinese mainland, and will also contribute to more positive explorations in the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the country's high-level opening-up," said Zhong Yun, deputy dean of the school of economics at Jinan University.