Macao-funded businesses in Hengqin top 8,000, up 72.6% since 2021

The number of Hengqin enterprises backed by Macao investment has reached a new milestone, exceeding the 8,000 mark as of 2 June. 

According to data from Hengqin’s Commercial Services Bureau, the current figure represents an increase of 72.6 percent when measured against the corresponding number logged during the establishment of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin in 2021. 

Macao-funded firms now account for 15.9 percent of all businesses in the Zhuhai island district – roughly one in every six.

Science innovation and information technology have grown strongly since 2021 and now make up 27.5 percent of the zone’s industry structure. Modern service industries – trade and commerce, cultural tourism, conventions and exhibitions, and healthcare – account for a further 37.5 percent. The authorities said this growth showed that Macao’s role as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, and as a platform for cooperation between China and Lusophone countries, had expanded into Hengqin.

[See more: Hengqin at 5: A policy project or a genuine second home?]

Officials added that Hengqin was shifting rapidly from traditional services towards high-tech and modern service industries, with scientific research and technology services now making up 19.9 percent of the industry structure. Other significant sectors include leasing and business services (26.3 percent), wholesale and retail (21 percent), culture, sports and entertainment (7.9 percent) and software and IT services (7.6 percent).

In its statement, the Hengqin authorities singled out several model Macao-funded Hengqin businesses. They included LeapFive, an computer chip development firm founded by Macao resident Aglaia Kong; Macau-Union Pharmaceutical Limited, a Macao-based drug manufacturer that pioneered the model of product registration in Macao and production in Hengqin in 2023. 

In recent years, the mainland and SAR governments have pushed to integrate Hengqin and Macao, aiming to reduce Macao’s reliance on its gambling industry and deepen cooperation across the Greater Bay Area. Encouraging Macao residents and businesses to invest and settle in the island district has been central to that strategy, aided by projects such as the Macao New Neighbourhood and the Hengqin Line of the Macao Light Rapid Transit.