President Xi Jinping's Oct 14, 2020 call for “speeding up construction of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin” has been answered. The General Plan for Construction of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was issued by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and State Council on Sept 5, 2021. It establishes the 106-sq-km (41-sq-mile) cooperation zone covering a customs-supervised area between the "first line" and "second line" of Hengqin Island. The "first-line" refers to Hengqin Island and the Macao Special Administrative Region, while the "second-line" refers to the area between Hengqin Island and other Chinese customs territories.

Focusing on the mission to “advocate Macao's moderate economic diversification,” the zone is defined as “a new platform to boost Macao's economic diversification, new space for Macao residents to live and work, new model to enrich the practice of ‘one country, two systems,’ and new ground for building up the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.” Three phased development goals are stipulated. By 2035 the zone's economic strength and technological competence will be greatly enhanced with an efficient public service and social security system and better collaboration mechanism between Hengqin and Macao. The goal to promote Macao's economic diversification will also be basically realized.

The cooperation zone will develop new industries to facilitate Macao's economic diversification. Sci-tech research and high-end manufacturing will be developed, while traditional Chinese medicine and other Macao signature businesses and industries (culture and tourism, conventions and exhibitions, and modern finance) will be promoted. Qualified industrial enterprises will enjoy a preferential enterprise income tax rate of 15 percent, while individual income tax rate for high-end and urgently needed talents in the zone will be capped at 15 percent.

A New home for Macao residents to live and work will be constructed. Living and working for Macao residents in the cooperation zone will be made more convenient accompanied by the construction of Macao New Neighborhood, connection with Macao’s public livelihood services and social security systems, relaxed exit-entry policy of Macao single-plate vehicles, and enhanced infrastructure connectivity.

An integrated new system with Macao featuring high-level opening-up will be built to realize the efficient and unimpeded flow of goods, people, capital and data between the zone and Macao. Under the system, declaration procedures for tax-exempt or bonded inbound goods will be further simplified, unless otherwise specified by national laws and administrative regulations. Inbound and outbound travel will also become highly convenient. Innovative measures will be introduced in terms of cross-border financial management. A highly convenient mechanism for market access will be established, and efforts will be made to facilitate the safe and orderly flow of internet data across the border.

A collaboration and communication mechanism between Guangdong and Macao for the zone's management will be set up. A management committee will be jointly established by the Guangdong and Macao governments for overall decisions on major plans, policies, projects, and important personnel appointment and removal of the cooperation zone. An executive committee under the management committee will be found and endowed with the functions of international promotion, investment attraction, industry introduction, land development, project construction, livelihood affairs management. The zone will be administered by an agency dispatched by the CPC Guangdong Committee and Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, which is responsible for Party building, national security, criminal justice, social security, and more. The agency will perform well the functions of territorial management and actively cooperate with the management and executive committees to promote the development and construction of the cooperation zone.