On 15 September, Guangdong’s Digital Government and Data Bureau released the “Guangdong Greater Bay Area Data Special Zone Work Plan”, targeting a cross-border data industry above RMB 200 billion by the end of 2028, with related value-add in manufacturing and services exceeding RMB 1 trillion. Bordering Hong Kong and Macao, Guangdong is a national digital-economy pilot with the Hengqin, Qianhai, Nansha and Hetao platforms for cross-border institutional trials.
By the end of 2027, the plan aims for 50 replicable cross-border scenarios with higher standardisation and convenience. Five task areas: use special rules and deepen the Greater Bay personal-information cross-border standard contract, exploring a “green channel” filing usable “once filed, used many times”; extend the negative list to the Guangzhou and Shenzhen service-opening pilot cities; build “Bay Area standards” for digital tech and mutual recognition.
Infrastructure: “Hong Kong data, Guangdong compute” and “Macao data, Guangdong compute” cross-border compute links; a provincial blockchain and trusted data space; an optimised cross-border communications hub expanding direct Hong Kong and Macao fibre. Scenarios span industry, livelihood and governance, covering “processing data where it lands”, cross-border diagnosis, smart connected vehicles, clean cross-border e-commerce, e-CNY and a social-security “Bay Area pass”.
The plan nurtures a compliance, circulation and technology-service ecosystem to lower cross-border compliance and adoption costs, and builds an international cooperation platform where Guangzhou (Nansha), Shenzhen (Qianhai, Hetao), Hengqin and Shantou deepen cross-border data ties with Belt and Road, Lusophone, Southeast Asian and Latin American partners.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Shenzhen News report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience.
Translated and adapted from Shenzhen News (https://www.sznews.com/news/content/2026-09/15/content_32172212.htm).