“An Integrated, Practical, and Efficiency-Boosting ‘Greater Bay Area Answer’” (APEC China Year: Openness, Innovation, Cooperation)
By staff reporters Chen Shangwen, Chu Jun, and Wang Yunna | People’s Daily
Media journalists from Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies recently visited the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) to experience the strong pulse of Chinese-style modernization. The journalists expressed that the development practices of the Greater Bay Area provide a vivid model for APEC economies to jointly explore new paths for the Asia-Pacific’s digital, intelligent, and green transformation. They also noted that these practices fill all parties with high expectations for the upcoming 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting.
Donovan Martin, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Canada’s Daily News:
“Shenzhen Provides an Ideal Stage for Asia-Pacific Cooperation”
“In just over 40 years, the fishing villages of the Pearl River Delta have transformed into an engine reshaping the global manufacturing landscape,” “A vivid testament to ‘efficiency, high quality, and cooperation’”… Donovan Martin, CEO and Editor-in-Chief of Canada’s Daily News, reflected in a recently published article.
This marks Martin’s fifth visit to China. At the BYD headquarters exhibition hall in Shenzhen, a concentrated display of innovative technologies left him dazzled. “China has achieved remarkable results in areas such as new energy vehicle manufacturing and battery technology.” Martin noted that the in-depth visit gave him a more intuitive understanding of China’s advanced manufacturing, while allowing him to witness the immense potential of Asia-Pacific innovative development and green transformation.
What touched Martin the most was a scene along Shenzhen’s Binhai Boulevard: right beside a grand, modern skyline lies the vibrant Shenzhen Futian Mangrove National Nature Reserve. “Looking around the world, in many rapidly developing major cities, natural ecosystems are often replaced by concrete and skyscrapers. Yet Shenzhen has integrated large-scale wetlands into the city, which not only provides a natural carbon sink and a storm/wave barrier, but also enables citizens to embrace biodiversity.” In Martin’s view, Shenzhen’s practice proves that technological development and ecological protection can go hand in hand. “Behind this lies the Chinese government’s long-term planning with a developmental vision to promote green development.”
In Dongguan, the automated material delivery system at DeRUCCI’s 5G Smart Super Factory operates seamlessly alongside precision robotic arms; at the OPPO Sports and Health Lab, exercise data is used for algorithm training to power monitoring features in smart wearables… These digital and intelligent scenarios demonstrate the powerful efficacy of AI in empowering the real economy. Martin believes Chinese manufacturers are setting design and engineering standards for the world: “We often talk about technology as the future, but here, we see that the future has already arrived.”
Martin has consistently followed the APEC “China Year” closely and has written articles explaining the significance of its three priority areas: “Openness, Innovation, and Cooperation.”
“Writing in my office in Winnipeg, Canada gives me a macro-policy perspective; but stepping onto the soil of China’s Greater Bay Area makes these concepts instantly come alive,” Martin said. “Openness” is not an abstract economic theory, as evidenced by the smooth operations of global enterprises locally; “innovation” thrives directly on this land, iterating and evolving at extreme speeds; and “cooperation” is reflected in people from all countries and sectors gathering to discuss grand plans and shared development. “Shenzhen provides an ideal stage for Asia-Pacific cooperation.”
Bùi Minh Long, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam’s Tiền Phong Newspaper:
“Where Tradition Meets Modernity in the Greater Bay Area”
Visiting Guangzhou and Foshan, what impressed Bùi Minh Long, Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam’s Tiền Phong Newspaper, the most was the spiritual strength of millions of hard-working, striving citizens.
Riding on Guangzhou Metro Line 18 at a speed of 160 km/h to experience the convenience and vitality brought by smart urban transit; walking into Phase IV of the Nansha Port Area at Guangzhou Port to witness the efficient operations of a fully automated terminal; learning how ergonomic chairs with massage features are manufactured… To Bùi Minh Long, “it is innovation and hard work that support the face of China’s rapid development today.”
Bùi Minh Long believes that Guangdong’s charm lies in its commitment to technological innovation alongside a deep cultural heritage. At the Guangzhou Museum of Art, he visited the special exhibition “2,240 Years of Guangzhou City Construction & 1,800 Years of Its Name”, sensing Guangzhou’s profound historical and cultural background through historical artifacts and displays. In Foshan, he made a special trip to Shunfeng Mountain Park to experience local residents’ daily morning exercises; he touched a Wing Chun wooden dummy, mimicked the stances, and posed for a photo with an Ip Man movie poster. “In the Greater Bay Area, you can encounter both tradition and modernity,” Bùi Minh Long remarked.
“I felt a vibrant China surging with energy, and gathered many vivid stories I want to tell Vietnamese readers,” said Bùi Minh Long. During his visit, he recorded cityscapes and analyzed the economic ecosystem behind economic surges and technological breakthroughs, while also taking time to experience daily street life. He hopes these reports will serve as a bridge to help Vietnamese readers understand China through a richer, humanistic perspective. “Mutual understanding at the humanistic level is the foundation for developing state-to-state relations. I hope the media can tell more authentic stories of ordinary people and showcase the concrete outcomes brought by regional cooperation.”
Diego Ruzzarin, Director of Mexico’s MPV Media:
“China’s Development Experience Deserves to Be Seen by the World”
“From visiting Beijing many years ago to stepping into Guangdong this time, my two trips to China have made me deeply fascinated by this country!” said Diego Ruzzarin, Director of Mexico’s MPV Media. He noted that China possesses deep historical roots and a diverse, inclusive civilization, while consistently upholding openness and connectivity, with vibrant developmental energy surging across its vast land.
At the Zhuhai Hengqin Digital Zero-Carbon Island Shared Lab, Ruzzarin and two media colleagues held tightly onto a rope and leaned back to engage in a tug-of-war with an inspection robot dog. “This was truly a novel experience!” Ruzzarin exclaimed. China demonstrates how technology benefits the people: nearby, the 220 kV Qinyun Substation serves as a key power hub connecting Guangdong and Macao. Over 200 smart terminals, including robotic dogs and drones, perform 24/7 autonomous inspections guided by AI algorithms, boosting inspection efficiency by over 70% and shifting fault detection from “post-event handling” to “pre-event warning.” “Emerging technologies are making people’s work safer and more efficient, and society as a whole benefits from technological progress,” Ruzzarin said.
In Yagou Village, Zhongshan City, waves of golden rice fields rippled in the wind. In recent years, with the opening of the mega-project Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, the village has accelerated its integration into the Greater Bay Area’s “circle of friends,” drawing an influx of tourists. Ruzzarin observed that while preserving its agricultural heritage, Yagou Village has also developed modern rural tourism, attracting younger people back to their hometown to open unique boutique bed-and-breakfasts and coffee shops, leading to increasingly prosperous lives for villagers.
Ruzzarin also visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to experience the grandeur and convenience of this “golden corridor” for the flow of people and logistics across the Greater Bay Area, learning how rule alignment and institutional mechanism matching have driven coordinated development across the three regions. “This is an integrated, practical, and efficiency-boosting ‘Greater Bay Area Answer,’ offering a vivid example for deepening Asia-Pacific cooperation,” Ruzzarin noted.
“China’s development experience deserves to be seen by the world,” Ruzzarin stated. What he saw and heard in Zhuhai and Zhongshan allowed him to decode China’s development miracle from a micro-perspective: “The Chinese government has a clear vision for improving citizens’ quality of life, fully leveraging the power of planning, and insisting on formulating policies grounded in social reality.” In his view, coming closer to the APEC “China Year” and entering the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area reveals even more stories that can be shared with the world.
(People’s Daily Online reporter Wang Yadie contributed to this report.)
