"9+2" government leaders signed the Pan-Pearl River Delta Regional Co-operation Framework Agreement in Guangzhou.

The Pan-Pearl River Delta (Pan-PRD) and the Greater Pearl River Delta (Greater PRD)

The Pan-PRD region comprises nine provinces in the Pearl River Delta region in Southern China, plus the two SARs of Hong Kong and Macao. The nine provinces are namely Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan. The Pan-PRD region has an area of 2.006 million square km, accounting for 21% of the total area of China. It has a population of 453 million, representing 35% of the country's total population. In 2003, the region registered a collective GDP of US$652.6 billion, accounting for about 40% of China's total economic output.

The Pan-PRD regional co-operation can be viewed as an extension of the Greater PRD regional co-operation. Over the years, with the co-operation on the trade and economic front as well as in other areas among Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, the economic integration in the Greater PRD region has made remarkable development. It has outperformed the inland provinces in the neighbourhood in terms of economic development. On the other hand, the inland provinces in the neighbourhood are endowed with vast hinterlands, huge markets and abundant resources, with each province specialising in individual industries. Given their respective strengths, the provinces are complementing with the Greater PRD on the economic front. The signing of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between the Central Government and the SARs of Hong Kong and Macao respectively in June and October 2003 has opened up an avenue for Hong Kong and Macao to forge ahead, on the basis of the Greater PRD regional co-operation, with greater economic co-operation with other inland provinces. Under the national strategy of co-ordinated regional development, the idea of Pan-PRD regional co-operation initiated by Guangdong Province has received enormous support from the Central Government and met with positive response from other member provinces, thus facilitating the co-operation among the Pan-PRD region. The Pan-PRD regional co-operation will provide a wider platform for the development of the Greater PRD, which will remain the inner core of the Pan-PRD region and continue to assume the role of a powerhouse in boosting economic growth, thereby promoting the overall development of the Pan-PRD region.

Prospects for the Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation

The Pan-PRD regional co-operation among the members focuses on complementing one another and achieving mutual benefits on an equal footing. The Pan-PRD Regional Co-operation Framework Agreement has initially identified ten major areas of regional co-operation, including infrastructure, industry and investment, commerce and trade, tourism, agriculture, labour service, science, education and culture, information building, environmental protection as well as health and epidemic prevention.

On infrastructure, all parties will actively pursue the national energy development strategies, such as the strategy of "West-to-East Power Transmission", and work together on a gradual basis to develop an integrated transport infrastructure, including highways, railways, aviation and shipping networks, the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, oil and gas transmission pipelines, with a view to establishing the one-day "transport circle" for the Pan-PRD region.

On industry and investment, all parties undertake to enhance co-ordination in order to create a fair, open and attractive investment environment as well as to develop a transparent, convenient and standardised mechanism to facilitate and promote investment. All parties support the collaboration in technology, production and investment among enterprises within the region to give full play to the complementary advantages, co-operation and joint development for industries, thereby enhancing the productivity of the industries of the entire region.

On commerce and trade, all parties undertake to enhance their credit arrangement, to eliminate regional barriers that restrict commodity flow and to establish a healthy, standardised and good market order. All parties undertake to encourage trade co-operation and development within the region, taking concerted efforts to implement the Mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Hong Kong CEPA) and the Mainland/Macao Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Macao CEPA). All parties will implement mutual recognition arrangements for quality, inspection and certification standards for industrial and agricultural products within the Pan-PRD region, promote co-operation among regional authorities and enterprises in the setting of standards, give recognition to the certification by the statutory inspection authorities of each other and promote free flow of commodities under the Hong Kong CEPA and the Macao CEPA in accordance with the state instructions.

On tourism, all parties support the comprehensive promotion of regional co-operation in tourism; the joint study and working out of the development and marketing strategies of tourism in the region; that a common information platform on regional tourism be set up; that a marketing system of regional tourism network be established to provide an electronic business service platform on travelling; and the planning and promotion of regional quality travel routes; the building up of the image of regional tourism and the establishment of a regional brand name in tourism.

On agriculture, all parties agree to establish a stable relationship regarding the sales and purchase of food and other agricultural products; to open a "green channel" for the agricultural products in the region; to support the establishment of a direct contact mechanism for the leading agricultural enterprises; to strengthen the research and development of technology in agriculture and the development of special agricultural projects, and co-operation in the production, processing and sales of agricultural products, thereby facilitating the establishment of a food safety system.

On labour service, all parties agree to strengthen co-operation in matters related to labour force, to exchange information regarding the supply and demand of labour force and collaboration in the importation and exportation of labour, to promote the regulated and reasonable mobility of labour force in the market, to co-ordinate the handling of the protection of the legal rights of labour force and related general management work, to establish and improve the systems of vocational skills training for the labour force, the training of skilled labour, the authentication and certification of vocational skills. All these aim to enhance the quality of the labour force in the region.

On science, education and culture, the co-operation among various institutions of higher education and scientific research in different places in the use of technological and educational resources will be strengthened. Cultural exchanges and exchanges of talent will also be promoted. The sharing of web-based information on fundamental technological and educational resources such as literature and information of science and technology, expert base, resources of animals and plants, as well as hydrologic resources will be expedited. Co-ordination in establishing a regional system for promoting innovation and technology will be stepped up. A mechanism to foster regional co-operation in scientific and technological projects, especially those relating to the development of high-technology and industrialization, as well as a platform for commercialization of research output will be established on a gradual basis, with a view to promoting regional collaboration of industries and facilitating the regional coalition for strategic co-operation.

On information building, all parties support the setting up of a regional network for information exchanges. The formulation of rules, standards, laws and regulations governing electronic business and in conformity with both national and international requirements will be stepped up. A mechanism to co-ordinate regional information exchanges will be set up to strengthen regional co-operation in the research, development and application of information technology through which sharing of resources will be achieved.

On environmental protection, all parties agree that a mechanism to facilitate regional collaboration in environmental protection should be established to reinforce co-operation in areas such as cleaner production, water environment protection, ecological environment protection and atmospheric environment protection. Plans for regional environmental protection should be drawn up. The Pearl River basin, in particular areas covered by the upper and middle reaches, should gather strength in ecological construction. The preservation of resources in the region should be enhanced to improve the quality of the overall environment of the region and its sustainability.

On health and epidemic prevention, all parties agree that a mechanism to co-ordinate efforts in health and epidemic prevention should be established. In case of an epidemic outbreak, notifications of the actual situation will be made in a timely manner in accordance with the established procedures. The mechanism will assist in co-ordinating the epidemic prevention and control work, as well as efforts in tackling key problems concerning the use of science and technology in epidemic prevention and cure.