"Northbound travel for Hong Kong vehicles" scheme facilitates youth entrepreneurship in Greater Bay Area

The "northbound travel for Hong Kong vehicles" scheme has created numerous business opportunities, fostering youth entrepreneurship and further enhancing connectivity and integrated development within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

The scheme, launched on July 1, 2023, allows eligible Hong Kong private cars to travel between Hong Kong and Guangdong Province via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB), facilitating Hong Kong residents' short-term travel to Guangdong for business, visiting family or sightseeing.

Kwok Dyun Coeng, a business professional working for an insurance company in Hong Kong, frequently travels between Guangdong and Hong Kong. Soon after the launch of the scheme, he applied and luckily obtained the permit, becoming one of the first residents receiving the license plate for northbound travel.

"With the implementation of the 'northbound travel for Hong Kong vehicles' scheme, I can now come over via the HZMB and meet clients directly. This has significantly increased both the time I spend with clients and the number of clients I meet, bringing tremendous convenience," he said.

With the improved transportation convenience, the economic and trade cooperation between Hong Kong and Chinese mainland has been strengthened. By enabling more efficient transportation of goods and personnel, businesses have facilitated the integration of supply chains and the expansion of markets, which has injected fresh impetus into the economic development of the GBA.

Kong Gaa Wai, a young entrepreneur from Hong Kong, said that he registered his first company in Zhuhai City, Guangdong in May 2023. The company's primary focus is developing artificial intelligence wearable devices for the elderly and visually impaired.

With the implementation of the scheme, Kong and his colleagues can now travel more conveniently between Guangdong and Hong Kong, gaining opportunities for further expanding their company's presence in the mainland market.

"Zhuhai can provide us with better policy support and a broader market, enabling us to transform our technology into products more rapidly. The convenient transportation conditions between Guangdong and Hong Kong will also attract more young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong to come to the GBA for startups," he said.

"Northbound travel for Hong Kong vehicles" scheme facilitates youth entrepreneurship in Greater Bay Area

Chinese President Xi Jinping said in Astana on Wednesday that he is ready to work with Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future featuring greater substance and vitality.

Xi made the statement at a meeting with Tokayev.

Noting that he was very pleased to visit the beautiful country of Kazakhstan, and that he had seen prosperous development of the country during this visit, Xi said he believes that under the leadership of President Tokayev, the Kazakh people will surely build a strong and prosperous new Kazakhstan.

Rooted in the millennia-old Silk Road, China-Kazakhstan friendship has reached a high level of permanent comprehensive strategic partnership over the past 32 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Kazakhstan. The two countries' ever-lasting friendship, high-level mutual trust, and commitment to sharing weal and woe together have come to define the bilateral relations, Xi said.

Xi reiterated that no matter how the international situation evolves, China remains resolute in maintaining China-Kazakhstan friendship, advancing all-round cooperation, having mutual support with Kazakhstan on issues concerning each other's core interests, and realizing respective national development goals.

Xi said he is ready to work with Tokayev to build a China-Kazakhstan community with a shared future that featuring greater substance and vitality, and provide more positive energy to the development and stability of the region and beyond.

Xi arrived in the Kazakh capital city of Astana on Tuesday to pay a state visit to the Central Asian state, and to attend the 24th Meeting of the Council of Heads of State of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Xi says ready to join Tokayev for China-Kazakhstan community with shared future of greater vitality