Hezhou will build a number of key industrial clusters in fields such as biopharmaceuticals, electronic information, and healthy cultural tourism. It will also adhere to traditional industry transformation and upgrading, as well as new industry development to make the city a demonstration zone of Guangxi's Eastern Integration Strategy.

In May 2019, Guangxi officially approved the implementation of the Development Plan for the Eastern Integration Demonstration Zone (Hezhou) in Guangxi. "Hezhou has made great achievements in a year. It has introduced a number of new projects and improved the industrial system," said Hezhou Mayor Lin Guan at an interview during the third session of the 13th Guangxi Zhuang People's Congress, which is being held from Jan 12 to 17.

Lin Guan, mayor of Hezhou, gives an interview during the third session of the 13th Guangxi Zhuang People's Congress. [Photo by Yang Zhixiong/chinanews.com.cn]

In 2019, Hezhou's GDP grew by 10.6 percent in the first quarter, ranking third in Guangxi. It is expected that the annual GDP growth will be 10 percent, and the growth rate will rank first in the region for three consecutive quarters.

"This is Hezhou's highest quality of development and the greatest progress made since the establishment of the city," added Lin. "Hezhou will make every effort to integrate and accelerate development to take the lead in integrating into the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area."

In the future, Hezhou will continue to build key industrial clusters, accelerate project planning and construction, improve the transportation network between Guangxi and the Greater Bay Area, as well as create a first-class business environment to provide comprehensive services for enterprises and talents from the Greater Bay Area.

In addition, from January to November 2019, a total of 314 new investment projects were introduced, with a total investment of 64.52 billion yuan ($9.37 billion), of which more than 60 percent of the projects were from the Greater Bay Area.