The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has been trying new growth-friendly moves, many of which are firsts in the country.

Hong Kong engineer Li Zhijian, with Qianhai Energy Ltd, used to spend weeks each year securing proper working permits for his job in the Greater Bay Area’s pilot zone.

But from this year forward, this requirement is no longer necessary.

In addition to no longer needing work permits, more benefits, such as a housing fund, have been offered.

“I believe measures like these will bring more Hong Kong talent to the area,” said Li.

Indeed, the area is offering everything from tax breaks to startup subsidies in anticipation of what’s to come in this new look Greater Bay Area.

“We think the Greater Bay Area currently has a historic opportunity. It’s going to further open up and upgrade, in its economic structure, in international cooperation, and in its management system,” said Tian Fu, a director with the Qianhai and Shekou FTA authority.

The Greater Bay Area straddles places at different development stages, each focusing on different industries and different political systems.

With the coordinated growth in plan, the area is projected to not only thrive because of these differences, but also become a model of collaborative development for the entire country.

Being close-knit is nothing new in the region. It was the front line of China’s opening-up 40 years ago, but this round of coordinated growth means much more, said Professor Zhang Guangnan who is studying Greater Bay Area integration at Sun Yat-Sen University.

“The bay area began to be linked in manufacturing and selling decades ago. But it’s grown so much that it now needs coordination in everything from medical resources, social, personnel management, to urban development,” he said.

Zhang also said the Greater Bay Area plan, along with the blueprint for other development areas like Xiong’an and the Yangtze River Delta, will help propel the entire country into a new era of growth.