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The 2026 government work report prioritizes opening up and tech innovation, creating opportunities for Hong Kong businesses on the mainland. They can leverage these policies to integrate into the Greater Bay Area's growth.

During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, China offers duty-free imports of films and equipment for science centers. Hong Kong investors in this sector can benefit from lower costs and new opportunities.

The Ministry of Finance and the State Taxation Administration have jointly announced that the implementation period for the preferential enterprise income tax policy in the Qianhai cooperation zone will be extended to 31 December 2027. Under the extended policy, qualified enterprises operating in Qianhai can enjoy a preferential income tax rate of 15%.

Guangdong recently released three action plans aimed at nurturing a business environment in the province that is market-oriented, law-based and internationalised. The internationalisation plan consists of a slew of measures aimed at improving cross-border trade services, relaxing foreign investment access and deepening collaboration between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.

The "Hetao Shenzhen Park Regulations" officially came into effect on March 1. Targeting bottlenecks in the cross-border flow of innovation factors between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the regulations introduce groundbreaking institutional arrangements in the supervision of personnel, goods, capital, and data. They also establish an innovation fault-tolerance mechanism, providing a solid legal foundation for the development of the Hetao Cooperation Zone into an international scientific research hub.

Several departments in Guangdong Province have jointly issued the "Guangdong Province Entrepreneurship Guaranteed Loan Implementation Measures," effective from March 1, 2026. The measures stipulate that individuals can borrow up to 600,000 yuan, and small and micro enterprises can borrow up to 5 million yuan, with a 50% financial discount on interest, using financial means to support entrepreneurship and drive employment.

The new regulations for the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone officially took effect on March 1, 2026. The regulations streamline cross-border procedures for Hong Kong businesses and researchers, provide duty-free facilities for scientific research goods, and pilot cross-border data flows. They also establish an innovation fault-tolerance mechanism, offering legal safeguards for Hong Kong-Shenzhen technological collaboration and the commercialization of research outcomes.

On February 25, Guangdong's lifelong learning platform for all was officially launched. Serving as a province-wide, unified super learning ecosystem, a single account grants access to educational resources across Guangdong. The platform features six major projects and five distinctive mechanisms, offering over 300,000 continuing education spots annually and aiming to train more than 2 million person-times. It also provides tailored learning programs for key groups, including workers in new business formats and the elderly.

The Chinese mainland has launched a pilot program for the digitalization of notarized documents for Hong Kong investors across 14 provinces and cities, streamlining the notarization process. Through platform integration, market regulatory authorities can directly access and retrieve electronic documents, and in principle, paper versions will no longer be required. This enhances the registration efficiency for Hong Kong-invested enterprises and facilitates investment and business operations for Hong Kong investors in the mainland.

Hong Kong has established cooperation mechanisms with eight mainland provinces to deeply engage in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) development. Collaboration spans finance, logistics, innovation, and legal services, enhancing rule alignment and resource flow. The SAR Government actively aligns with national strategies, leveraging its "super-connector" role to strengthen its status as an international hub for finance, shipping, and trade, contributing to the GBA's goal of becoming a high-quality development demonstration zone.

Hong Kong's Department of Justice has formed a high-level preparatory group to align with the national 15th Five-Year Plan. Led by Secretary Paul Lam, it will leverage Hong Kong's international legal strengths to aid national development.

Shenzhen, a core GBA engine, is boosting manufacturing-service synergy post-holiday. Advancing AI, major projects, and global hubs from Guangming Science City to Qianhai, it builds an "advanced manufacturing + modern services" system, fueling world-class GBA industry clusters.

"The Guangdong Province White Paper on the Synergistic Development of Manufacturing and Service Industries" has been officially released. It systematically outlines strategies for the deep integration of these two sectors in the Greater Bay Area. By leveraging digital technologies and promoting the servitization of manufacturing, the white paper aims to accelerate the establishment of a modern industrial system. This provides crucial guidance for building a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Guangdong uses AI to blur manufacturing-service lines. Through "AI+", it enables tech spillover from manufacturing and scenario integration in services—like automakers applying smart driving tech to humanoid robots, or industrial platforms using "small but smart" models to aid SME transformation. Hong Kong entrepreneurs in the GBA can tap into the region's strong industrial base, diverse scenarios, and policy support to join the "technology-scenario-data" cycle, seizing opportunities from advanced manufacturing and modern service synergy.

Shenzhen Qianhai, as a core engine of the Greater Bay Area, continues to enhance its capability. During the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, its regional GDP nearly doubled, and the added value of its modern service industry more than doubled. In 2026, it will promote the "dual expansion" of the Free Trade Pilot Zone and the Comprehensive Bonded Zone to deepen Shenzhen-Hong Kong collaboration. By establishing a "642" industrial system, it will strengthen institutional innovation and opening-up functions, helping the Greater Bay Area build a world-class highland for productive services.