Cultural and Creative Policies in the Greater Bay Area
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area) includes the two Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao, as well as the nine municipalities of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, and Zhaoqing in Guangdong Province. According to the latest statistics from local governments, the overall area is approximately 56 000 km2, has a population of over 86 million people, and a GDP of USD 1,668.8 billion in 2020.
The construction of the Greater Bay Area is included in the key strategic plan of the national development blueprint, which is very important for the implementation of the national innovation-driven development strategy. The Framework Agreement on Deepening Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Cooperation in the Development of the Greater Bay Area was signed in Hong Kong on July 1, 2017, in the presence of President Xi Jinping, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao.
The agreement covers a wide range of policies, including those on arts and culture, creative industries, and intellectual property.
Many cities in the Greater Bay Area have a strong Lingnan cultural heritage, such as Guangzhou, Foshan, and Zhongshan, which are famous for their Cantonese opera, martial arts, lion dances, and Lingnan painting school. Shenzhen is the city of technology, they have the most cutting-edge technology and innovative environment, many big game companies are located in the center of Shenzhen. Hong Kong, on the other hand, is the cultural center of Asia and has a diverse range of cultural resources. The Greater Bay Area Cultural Policy, therefore, aims to provide a larger platform and richer resources for these cities to integrate and innovate with different cultures. One of the more prominent aspects of this policy is the film industry.
In April 2019, relevant Central authorities agreed to the introduction of the five relaxation measures to further facilitate entry of Hong Kong films and film practitioners into the Mainland market, including waiving the fees for co-production projects between the Mainland and Hong Kong and removing the restriction on the number of Hong Kong people participating in Mainland film production, etc. With the implementation of The Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), the number of Hong Kong-Mainland coproduced films increased from ten each year before to 2004, when CEPA began to be implemented, to over 30 in recent years.
Through the Film Development Fund (FDF), the Government supports the production of local Cantonese films, the distribution and promotion of Cantonese films in the Mainland, and the training programs for talents in the film industry. 46 films were financed through the FDF from July 2007 to December 2018. These films have won over 100 awards at different film festivals around the world.
Furthermore, the Greater Bay Area’s cultural and creative construction gives additional chances for young people in the cultural and creative industries in numerous cities. Jiahui Wu, a young designer from Hong Kong, stated that he could find better production and human resources on the mainland to start his own business, and he hopes to become an incubator for cultural and creative industries in the Greater Bay Area in the future, assisting young people from both places to realize their dreams together.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb9-bqNJ2ik
Overall, cultural construction in the Greater Bay Area is developing in a win-win direction. The promotion of several policies will enable the Mainland to help Hong Kong and Macau solve problems such as lack of space, expensive labor, and shortage of capital, while they can bring an international perspective to the Mainland, deepen cooperation in cultural and creative industries and gradually expand markets.