On the north and south sides of the Qiongzhou Strait, there stands a comprehensive transportation hub building, which looks like a pair of Kunpeng spreading their wings and walking towards each other from a high altitude.
Zhanjiang Xuwen Port Integrated Transportation Hub on the north bank has started operation and is currently the largest passenger and cargo ro-ro terminal in the world; the South Bank Haikou New Seaport Integrated Transportation Hub Project has entered the sprint stage and will become the country's largest port passenger ro-ro comprehensive hub after completion.
Qiongzhou Strait is an important channel connecting mainland China and Hainan Island. Guangdong and Hainan are across the sea. With the continuous advancement of the integrated development of the Strait, the "two-way travel" between the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, which covers nine cities in the Pearl River Delta of Guangdong and the two special zones of Hong Kong and Macau, and Hainan Free Trade Port, China's largest free trade zone, is becoming more and more exciting.
"The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Hainan Free Trade Port meet each other, which is of great significance for China to accelerate the construction of a new development pattern." Liu Feng, director of the Research Center for Free Trade Ports with Chinese Characteristics, Hainan Normal University, said that the Greater Bay Area and the Free Trade Port are linked , and work together to build an important hub of domestic and international dual cycles, which is expected to build a "new highland" for China's opening up, exchanges and cooperation.
Infrastructure interconnection is the "number one project" for the Greater Bay Area and the Free Trade Port to meet each other. In terms of total cargo volume, the Strait Ferry supports the transportation of about 90% of production and living materials in Hainan Island. After the opening of Xuwen Port in September 2020, the shortest sailing distance of the Strait Ferry has been shortened to 12 nautical miles.
"Xuwen Port will comprehensively improve the port's navigation capabilities, and make every effort to ensure the safety and smoothness of the Qiongzhou Strait strategic channel." Zhang Jinhong, chairman of Zhanjiang Xuwen Port Co., Ltd., which is responsible for the investment, construction and operation of Xuwen Port, said, relying on the advantages of docking with the Hainan Free Trade Port's frontier positions , Xuwen Port will also meet the needs of Hainan to develop supplies and exports outside the island, build an industrial cluster of Xuwen Port, and promote the integrated development of the port, industry and city.
Looking out from the glass curtain wall "Deyuemen" of the Xuwen Port Comprehensive Transportation Hub Building, eight covered bridges with wavy roofs are lined up, and each covered bridge connects two passenger and cargo ro-ro ships. Two to three of these ships sail every hour and run 24 hours a day. It takes about one hour to cross the Qiongzhou Strait to arrive at Haikou New Seaport. There are tens of millions of passengers traveling to and from the Strait every year.
"With the continuous advancement of the integration of ports and shipping, the Qiongzhou Strait will create the best passenger and cargo transportation channel, and the transportation efficiency, management efficiency and resource utilization efficiency will be greatly improved, so as to better support the Hainan Free Trade Port and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Construction." said Ye Wei, general manager of Hainan Strait Shipping Co., Ltd., the leading unit of Qiongzhou Strait port and shipping integration integration.
Currently, Xuwen Port is building a modern land and water transportation hub connecting the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Hainan Free Trade Port. Key projects such as the Zhanhai High-speed Railway and the Wushi Branch Line of the Guangdong-Hai Railway are accelerated, which will promote Hainan's better integration into the national railway network; the preliminary work of the Xuwen General Airport is progressing in an orderly manner, and will accelerate the construction of a new general aviation network in the Free Trade Port and the Greater Bay Area .
The coordinated development of industries is the top priority for the Greater Bay Area and the free trade port to meet each other. The "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port" issued in June 2020 clearly stated that it is necessary to "promote the joint development with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area".
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of the regions with the highest degree of openness and the strongest economic vitality in my country. In 2022, the total economic volume will exceed 13 trillion yuan. Guangdong Province is the vanguard, pioneer, and experimental area of reform and opening up. From the creation of the "Three Reimbursements and One Subsidy" and the construction of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, to today's joint efforts with Hong Kong and Macau to promote the construction of the Greater Bay Area at a high level, it has witnessed the growth of the world's second largest economy. Firm pace with horizontal opening.
Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission and executive deputy director of the Provincial Greater Bay Area Office, led a team to Hainan for investigation in February this year. Major events and major projects such as these will provide basic support for continuing to deepen practical cooperation and plan a new chapter for cooperation between the two provinces.
According to experts, the coordinated development of the Greater Bay Area and the free trade port can form complementary industrial advantages and rely on each other. The Greater Bay Area can provide a broad hinterland market for the construction of the Free Trade Port. It can also rely on its advantages in manufacturing, technology, and talents to provide the necessary resources for the construction of the Hainan Free Trade Port in the fields of high-end manufacturing, modern service industry, and medical health. industry support.
As a gateway city for Guangdong to connect with Hainan Free Trade Port, Xuwen County of Zhanjiang City hopes to give full play to its location advantages to serve the construction of Hainan Free Trade Port and build a bridgehead and carrier for the joint development of Guangdong and Hainan.
At the construction site of the Qiongzhou Strait Roller Passenger Transport Emergency Guarantee base Project in Hai'an Port, Xuwen, machines roared, and several construction machinery were working intensively, digging soil and piling, and leveling the site. At the end of last year, four major projects in Xuwen County, including the Qiongzhou Strait Passenger-Roll Transport Emergency Guarantee base, started construction intensively, with a total investment of 5.288 billion yuan. At the same time, Xuwen County Aviation Industry Project (Hainan) and other 10 projects were signed intensively, with a planned total investment of 9.617 billion yuan.
Luo Hongxia, secretary of the Xuwen County Party Committee, said that Xuwen is committed to building an important industrial development platform in the Qiongzhou Strait Economic Belt, and will follow the industrial collaborative development model of "Hainan headquarters + Xuwen base, Hainan front-end + Xuwen backstage, Hainan R&D + Xuwen manufacturing".
Zeng Doudou, deputy director of the Zhanjiang Development and Reform Bureau, told reporters that Guangdong and Qiongyang have established a provincial-level coordination mechanism and are planning to jointly promote the integrated high-quality development of the Qiongzhou Strait. They will deepen cooperation in building a modern industrial system with complementary advantages.
At the same time, Hainan is accelerating the construction of a free trade port with Chinese characteristics with world influence. In the three years since the release of the "Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port", the high-level opening up of the free trade port has been steadily advanced, policy dividends have been continuously released, and customs closure preparations have been made steadily.
"Hainan Free Trade Port will continue to deepen the infrastructure interconnection with Guangdong, accelerate the development of industrial linkage with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and jointly explore the further expansion of high-level opening up to Southeast Asia and other regions." Deputy Director of the Development and Reform Commission of Hainan Province Xu Lan introduced that Hainan is currently cooperating with relevant parties in Guangdong to step up research on the planning plan for the free trade port and the Greater Bay Area to make the two major strategic linkages more solid.
According to the Hainan Provincial Development and Reform Commission, the Free Trade Port and the Greater Bay Area have interacted frequently in recent years, and cooperation mechanisms between cities have been established. The two provinces also cooperate closely in terms of energy cross-sea networking and joint risk prevention and control.
At present, there are still many issues that need to be communicated and coordinated in the direction of the Greater Bay Area and the Free Trade Port, but the prospects are beyond doubt. Huang Peng, chief engineer of the Hainan Provincial Department of Transportation, said that the two strategies go towards each other and develop together, which will produce a win-win effect of "1+1>2".
Experts believe that the system and policy dividends of the free trade port are conducive to promoting the competitive advantages of enterprises in the Greater Bay Area, enhancing the ability of the Greater Bay Area to absorb and gather high-end elements at home and abroad, and helping Chinese enterprises and Chinese brands to "go global" .
While the bay-port linkage will add impetus to China's regional development, it will also inject more certainty into the uncertain world economy.
In Liu Feng's view, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Hainan Free Trade Port can give full play to their outstanding advantages such as unique geographical location, backed by a super-large-scale domestic market, and facing emerging markets in Southeast Asia, and jointly create China's global-oriented resource allocation and factor agglomeration strategy Highland, better integration into the global industrial chain, supply chain and value chain.
"The Hainan Free Trade Port and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area are not only new benchmarks for China to promote a higher level of opening up, but will also inject new vitality into the construction of an open world economy, and are an important platform for the world to share China's development opportunities," Liu Feng said. .
(Reporters Zhao Danping, Yang Xiaojing, Wu Tao, Yan Yujing, Zhou Qiang, Li Huaiyan, Zhong Qun)
