CBRE Comments on the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

Marcos Chan, Head of Research, CBRE Hong Kong, Southern China & Taiwan commented on the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area: 

- We are a strong advocate of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It has been long anticipated by the real estate sector and the release of it unveils a promising prospect. The ambition to transform the GBA into a world-class bay area economy by 2035 is clearly seen. This echoes our special research report entitled The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area – The Rise of China’s Pioneering City Cluster into the World’s Largest Bay Area Economy published in August last year, which suggested that the Greater Bay Area has all it takes to become the world’s largest bay area economy. 

- The Outline, which sets forth the strategic directions for the 11 cities, can serve as a guideline for investors, developers and corporate tenants who are looking to make a foray or planning to expand their businesses in the Greater Bay Area. 

- Clarity on the direction of the Greater Bay Area underpins the development of residential, offices, industrial and logistics, retail and investment property markets. The office and industrial and logistics sectors stand out to benefit the most from the Greater Bay Area initiative. 

- With the launch of world class infrastructure projects in the area, the travelling time among the major cities has been reduced to within one hour, which creates a great appeal for international and domestic corporations to set foot and expand their businesses in the Greater Bay Area.

- The industrial and logistics sectors are also set to receive direct advantage from the launch of the large scale bridges and highway projects. New airports developments are in the pipeline and some of the existing airports will also be to be extended to facilitate effective logistics management. The fact that the flow of goods can be more easily handled can enhance the demand for storage and other logistics facilities along the 11 cities. 

- Ongoing US-China trade tensions continue to bring uncertainties to the commercial real estate market. The Outline comes at an opportune time to set the direction of the Greater Bay Area. The opportunities arising from this Southern China economic powerhouse will offset the short-term impact brought by the trade tensions and fuel the growth of this market in the long run.