Macao SAR gov't, Bank of China ink cooperation agreement for Greater Bay Area

China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and Bank of China (BOC) signed an agreement on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation in the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Macao SAR's Chief Executive Chui Sai On and BOC Chairman of the Board Chen Siqing signed the Agreement on Service Cooperation for Integration into the Construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Aerial photo taken on Dec. 31, 2017 shows buses and vans running on the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, south China's Guangdong Province, to celebrate that the major work of the Bridge is completed. [Photo: Xinhua]

Under the agreement, the two sides will seize the historic opportunity of the development of the Greater Bay Area to give full play to Macao's institutional advantage of "one country, two systems" and BOC's unique industry advantages, and to promote cooperation in people's livelihood, government and banking coordination, industrial talent cultivation, Sino-Portuguese platform finance and characteristic financial development.

Macao residents may use their Macao identity cards as legal documents for opening accounts, applying for bank cards, registering and trading when they use certain services in financial institutions affiliated to BOC in the Greater Bay Area, and in its more than 500 branch offices overseas.

In line with the local financial regulatory policies, BOC will also build a cross-border capital pool for Macao enterprises to open up the capital channel in Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao and the whole world.

On the same day, BOC also opened its Corporate Finance Characteristic Financing Platform in Macao, which will serve Portuguese-speaking countries and regions, the Great Bay Area and countries along the Belt and Road.