China
Despite challenges, epidemic response has led to greater regional integration in the Greater Bay Area
By Yuan Yuan  ·  2021-03-07  ·   Source: NO.10 MARCH 11, 2021
The Chaoshan Loop Expressway in Shantou, Guangdong Province in south China, opens to traffic on December 28, 2020 (XINHUA)

In light of the medical burdens imposed by the COVID-19 epidemic, the Central Government funded the construction of a new hospital in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The hospital, called the North Lantau Hospital Hong Kong Infection Control Center (HKICC), opened on February 26 after a construction period that took four months.

Located next to the AsiaWorld-Expo treatment facility—also funded by the Central Government to combat COVID-19—the HKICC is the first hospital in the SAR equipped with negative pressure systems in all rooms. Occupying 30,000 square meters—larger than four soccer fields—this massive project could be completed in four months thanks to the adoption of modular integrated construction technology. Projects of a similar scale in Hong Kong would normally take around four years.

The facility has been referred to as a "temporary hospital," but the construction meets the standards of a permanent building, and it is strong enough to resist hurricane-force winds. A world-class negative pressure system allows the air in the hospital rooms to be refreshed 12 times per hour, filtering 99.97 percent of viruses.

The facility contains 816 isolation beds, which will be activated in phases based on the evolving epidemic situation. Currently, a 48-bed ward has been opened for COVID-19 patients with mild to moderate symptoms. In addition to six two-story ward buildings, the HKICC has a medical center that can handle a maximum of 1,500 specimens per day; this will expand the overall laboratory testing capacity of public hospitals in Hong Kong by about 15 percent.

"The resources, nucleic acid tests and vaccines, as well as the temporary hospital, have all demonstrated the Central Government's care to HKSAR," Chief Executive of HKSAR Carrie Lam said at the completion and handover ceremony of the HKICC on January 20. "The Central Government is forever the strongest backbone of the city's anti-epidemic work."

Lam noted that the hospital's speedy completion showcases the determination and collaboration of the project team and staff members. She added that the project also gives full play to the deep brotherhood between Hong Kong and the nearby cities of Guangdong Province.

Since the outbreak of the epidemic, the Central Government has assisted Hong Kong's campaign against COVID-19 by sending teams of medical experts and ensuring the supply of daily necessities and medical materials within the city. The Central Government initiated a mass testing program for Hong Kong residents for free in August 2020, and has also supplied vaccines to the SAR. On February 22, Carrie Lam and many other top officials in the regional government received vaccine produced by Sinovac, a Beijing-based biopharmaceutical company.


Hong Kong residents see off members of mainland nucleic acid test support teams in Hong Kong in south China on September 16, 2020 (XINHUA)

Chances from crisis 

The epidemic has hindered cooperation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in many areas, but not medical cooperation.

After the outbreak of the epidemic, many Hong Kong residents with chronic diseases who were living in Guangdong couldn't return to Hong Kong for regular treatment. In November 2020, the government of HKSAR and the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKUSZH)—a hospital launched in 2012 exemplifying medical collaboration in the Greater Bay Area—cooperatively launched a scheme offering special subsidy for regular treatments of eligible patients at HKUSZH in Shenzhen, Guangdong. Around 8,000 Hong Kong residents benefited from this program.

Guangdong has demonstrated a robust diagnostic capability in the campaign against COVID-19, Ko Wing-man, Hong Kong's former Secretary for Food and Health, said, adding that the control and prevention of the epidemic has pushed the adoption of new technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and telemedicine, and has helped strengthen collaboration among medical professionals from Hong Kong and the mainland.

Medical cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao has been accelerated by the promulgation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in February 2019. The plan aims to turn the area, with a population of over 70 million, into a vibrant world-class city cluster.

"It has become a trend for Hong Kong healthcare service managers to seek opportunities in the Guangdong cities of the bay area, while healthcare operators in those cities are also trying to introduce Hong Kong-style health services," Ko told China Daily.

Clifford L. K. Pang, President of Clifford Group and Clifford Hospital in Guangzhou in Guangdong, initiated a program in 2019 to bring together medical management experts from the mainland and Hong Kong to study healthcare policies on both sides. These experts put together a book detailing the current healthcare landscape, potentials for the future development of medical care in the bay area, and suggestions for improving the development of the region's healthcare industry.

"As one of the most economically dynamic regions in China, it can attract many more talents, which will boost medical demand in the following years," Pang said.

Guangdong authorities have also been taking steps to smooth medical cooperation among cities in the area. In February 2019, the provincial human resources and social security department issued guidelines on relaxing the entry threshold for Hong Kong doctors and forming an open evaluation system in the bay area.

By the end of 2019, Hong Kong and Macao healthcare service providers had opened 33 medical institutions in Guangdong, including seven hospitals and 18 outpatient centers, according to figures from the Health Commission of Guangdong.

Ko led the city's campaign against the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003. He is now an adviser helping to establish Hong Kong-style clinics and hospitals in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

In 2010, under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao, respectively, medical care service providers from the SARs were allowed for the first time to explore opportunities in the mainland. The free trade agreements cover trade in goods and services, investment, and economic and technical cooperation.


Passengers pass through the automated inspection channels at Hengqin Port between Macao and Zhuhai, Guangdong Province in south China, on August 18, 2020 (XINHUA)

Sharp spearhead 

Despite real progress, there are still some challenges in ensuring synergy between the different healthcare systems, including regulations, financing, people, data, drugs, products and other areas, Ko noted.

"The differences in systems and regulations under different jurisdictions have posed many challenges to regional integration," said Wen Yajing from the think tank China Development Institute based in Shenzhen. "People in the region have made efforts to explore solutions and achieved many experiences."

In October 2020, China issued a plan on implementing pilot reforms in Shenzhen to build the city into a demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics. The plan allows the city to explore legislation in emerging areas including big data, AI, unmanned aerial vehicles, and similar areas.

"This has provided more possibilities for the SARs and Guangdong to work out solutions dealing with legal issues in the area," Wen said.

On February 28, the Guangdong Provincial Government published plans to pioneer the promotion of policies focusing on anti-monopoly and anti-improper competition to pave the way for the Greater Bay Area to develop into an international hub of technology and innovation.

Youth innovation and entrepreneurship has been an important part of regional integration. Several Hong Kong universities, including the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, have opened or are scheduled to open campuses in Guangdong. In the same spirit, Shenzhen University plans to establish a campus in Hong Kong, making it the first mainland university to establish a campus in Hong Kong.

Li Qingquan, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC) and President of Shenzhen University, explained that the new campus in Hong Kong will work closely with local students and provide more courses that would benefit their employment, entrepreneurship and personal development in the Greater Bay Area.

Figures from Guangdong show that the province now houses nearly 600 Hong Kong/Macao-based startup teams employing more than 4,000 talented youth.

On February 26, the governments of HKSAR and Guangdong officially kicked off three programs, covering youth employment and entrepreneurship, to help talented Hong Kong youth discover more opportunities in the Greater Bay Area. In one of the programs, the HKSAR Government vowed to provide 100 million HK dollars ($12.9 million) to around 200 youth startups and to more than 10 non-governmental organizations to implement youth entrepreneurship projects.

The traffic network in the area has been sprawling fast. The Chaoshan Loop Expressway, winding through Shantou, Chaozhou and Jieyang in Guangdong, opened to traffic on December 28, 2020. The construction of Metro Line 18 in Guangzhou completed in February and the electric train, with a maximum designed speed of 160 km per hour, carried out the first hot-running test on March 3.

The improving business environment of the Greater Bay Area has also been a magnet for overseas companies. On March 2, Merck, a leading pharmaceutical company from Germany, signed a memorandum of understanding to begin strategic collaboration with Guangzhou Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd., China's leading pharmaceutical company.

Stefan Oschmann, Chair of the Executive Board and CEO of Merck, called China "one of the most important strategic markets and a vital link in the global innovation chain." The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, in particular, has a noticeable advantage in industrial agglomeration and a complete upstream and downstream industry chain.

Lo Wai-kwok, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and Chair of the Business and Professionals Alliance (BPA) for Hong Kong, revealed that the members of BPA, who are either NPC deputies or CPPCC members, submitted 17 motions and proposals for boosting Hong Kong's post-epidemic economy at the annual sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC National Committee this year.

The proposals included the establishment of a special fund for technological projects and addressing divergences in technology management systems between the mainland and Hong Kong.

(Print Edition Title:Crossing the Bay)

Copyedited by Sean Connolly

Comments to yuanyuan@bjreview.com

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