Harbor Linkage, Qiong-Yue Partnership: Southern Powerhouse "Partners" Unite Toward the Future

This article is from Times Weekly, author: Qin Shuo

On the hundredth day since the closure of Hainan Free Trade Port, the 2026 Port Cooperation and Exchange Conference was held as scheduled in Haikou, Hainan, at the right time. This grand event stands at the intersection of history and the future, transforming the coordinated development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Hainan Free Trade Port from a continuation of historical context to a pioneering of the current landscape, from land-based industry collaboration to ocean economy cooperation, and from the accumulation of economic data to the symbiosis of human spirit.

Practical and vibrant cases of cooperation confirm a profound consensus: the linkage between the Greater Bay Area and the Free Trade Port is never a “competition for resources or opportunities at a distance,” but a mutual complementarity and achievement through “two-way efforts.” As two major national strategies, their deep integration has long written a “1+1>2” development chapter along the South China Sea, outlining a new picture of southern China’s opening-up and development.

Geographical proximity and developmental dependence, along with innate complementary advantages, are the natural foundation for cooperation. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area boasts a solid foundation of “capital, technology, and talent,” with Guangdong leading the national economy for 37 consecutive years, and its innovation capacity and foreign trade scale ranking among the top in the country. It is the “ballast stone” of China’s real economy and a “bridgehead” connecting to the global market. Hainan Free Trade Port, endowed with “resources, policies, and ecological advantages,” as China’s only “Chinese-style Free Trade Port,” has become a testing ground for institutional innovation and a gateway facing blue oceans with the highest level of openness.

This difference is not a gap in development but a prerequisite for synergy— the Greater Bay Area needs to expand new development space and unleash new industrial potential, while Hainan needs to fill industrial gaps and activate policy dividends. Their needs are naturally aligned, and their destinies are closely linked, with limitless prospects for cooperation.

The depth of industrial collaboration witnesses the warmth of symbiosis. Platforms such as the Guangdong-Hainan Advanced Manufacturing Industry Park and the Shen-Dan Cooperation Zone build industrial bridges, facilitating deep integration in advanced manufacturing, tropical high-efficiency agriculture, healthcare, financial services, and more. This enables the optimization of industrial and supply chains between Hainan and Guangdong—not just a one-way transfer of technology, but a fate-driven integration of capital, location, intelligent manufacturing, and policies.

The linkage of port and resource development outlines the breadth of openness. The integration of ports across the Qiongzhou Strait accelerates, with coordinated layouts of “New Guangdong at sea” and “South China Sea at sea,” turning marine economy, port logistics, and ocean technology into new blue oceans of cooperation. Goods from the Greater Bay Area sail out under the zero-tariff policy of the Free Trade Port, while Hainan’s ports rise as vital hubs connecting inside and outside. The Qiongzhou Strait is no longer a geographical barrier but a “golden passage” linking the two regions.

The strength of policy integration solidifies the depth of development. Cross-regional exploration of value-added policies allows enterprises to combine the value-added proportions of R&D in the Greater Bay Area and production in Hainan. The “front shop, back factory” model no longer requires a “choice,” and measures such as streamlining negative lists for service trade break down institutional barriers to factor flows.

These innovative practices vividly demonstrate that cooperation between the two regions is not a one-way “empowerment,” but a “mutual achievement” through institutional innovation, allowing the dividends of openness to benefit more market entities. The “Harbor Economic Circle” is accelerating its formation, becoming a new hotspot attracting global investors and an important pivot connecting domestic and international dual cycles.

When the tide rises on both sides of the strait, and the wind fills the sails, the innovation vitality of the Greater Bay Area meets the open momentum of the Free Trade Port. Their joint progress is an inevitable requirement of national strategy, a natural choice of market laws, and a shared aspiration for development.

The significance of the Port Cooperation and Exchange Conference goes far beyond a mere meeting; it is about building a long-term mechanism for coordinated cooperation. As this mechanism improves, both sides will blossom further in industrial chain collaboration, policy innovation, and factor flows. This symbiotic and mutually prosperous cooperation has no winners and losers, only mutual achievement. This is the true essence of regional coordinated development and the confidence behind China’s high-level opening-up.