Night view of Guangzhou, Guangdong province, July 20, 2017. [Photo/VCG] BEIJING - China has made substantial progress in integrating the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into a vibrant world-class city cluster, officials said Thursday. Guangdong Province has set up a leading group and six specialized groups to push ahead with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development, Lin Shaochun, executive vice governor of Guangdong Province, said at a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office. Li Xi, secretary of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee, is the head of the leading group of Guangdong Province. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has reached an agreement with Guangdong Province to build a campus in Guangzhou, capital of the province, according to Lin. Altogether, six Hong Kong colleges and universities have founded 72 scientific research institutions in Shenzhen, while Guangdong and Hong Kong has jointly subsidized 151 innovative programs. The infrastructure connectivity in the area has been significantly improved, said Lin, mentioning the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge as a model project of the Greater Bay Area. Guangdong Province has opened up 153 service sectors to Hong Kong and Macao, accounting for 95.6 percent of 160 service sectors listed by the World Trade Organization. For the first time, a Guangdong and Macao Cooperation Development Fund has been established, with the first batch of investment of 20 billion yuan (about $3 billion), Lin said. Guangdong has unveiled many facilitation measures for Hong Kong and Macao residents studying, investing and living in the province. For example, the number of colleges and universities that can enroll students from Hong Kong and Macao has risen to 50. China unveiled the outline development plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area last week, aiming to develop the region into a role model of high-quality development. The bay area consists of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Macao Special Administrative Region, as well as nine cities in Guangdong Province -- Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Huizhou, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing. Covering 56,000 square kilometers, the bay area had a combined population of about 70 million at the end of 2017 and its gross domestic product reached around 10 trillion yuan in 2017. wristbands canadacustom silicone bracelets canadarubber bracelets canadasilicone bracelets canadasilicone wristbands canadacustom wristbands canadacanadian wristbandswristbands canada
CNS Liuzhou is a Type 054A frigate. The vessel exported to Pakistan is said to be based on this class. [Photo/Xinhua] China recently started construction of an export version of one of its advanced warships and will deliver it to Pakistan as part of a major arms deal, according to China State Shipbuilding Corp, a large State-owned defense contractor. It said the ship is a version of the Chinese Navy's most advanced guided missile frigate, without specifying its type. In late December it said the ship is under construction at its Hudong-Zhonghua shipyard in Shanghai, noting it will be equipped with modern detection and weapon systems and will be capable of anti-ship, anti-submarine and air-defense operations. According to the Pakistani Navy, the ship's class is Type 054AP, which means it is based on the Type 054A of the People's Liberation Army Navy. It previously said four such ships had been ordered. Once constructed, the warship will be one of the largest and technologically advanced platforms of Pakistan's Navy and strengthen the country's capability to respond to future challenges, maintain peace and stability and the balance of power in the Indian Ocean region. It will also support the Pakistani Navy's initiative of securing sea lanes for international shipping by patrolling distant waters, it said in a statement on its twitter account. Type 054A is the best frigate in service with the PLA Navy. Military sources said the ship has a fully loaded displacement of about 4,000 metric tons and is equipped with advanced radars and missiles. About 30 Type 054As are in service with the PLA Navy, observers said. Cao Weidong, a senior researcher at the PLA's Naval Military Studies Research Institute, said that in the past, the Pakistani Navy would ask its Chinese contractors to use Western radars or weapons on ships constructed by Chinese shipbuilders because it believed Western naval technologies were better than Chinese ones. But it seems that all weapons and radars on the new ship will be Chinese products, which reflects our progress in the industry and the Pakistani Navy's confidence in our technology and capability, he said. Cao said there are many nations selling frigates in the market, so Pakistan must have made thorough comparisons in terms of combat capability and costs. I believe the reason they chose our type is that ours is one of the few that can carry out all of the air-defense, anti-ship and anti-submarine tasks, he said, expecting the service of the Chinese frigate to substantially boost Pakistan's defense capability. An insider in China's shipbuilding sector with knowledge of the Type 054AP program told China Daily on condition of anonymity that the ship is the largest and most powerful combat vessel China has ever exported. Based on pictures circulating on the internet, the ship will have vertical launch cells that can fire Chinese HQ-16 air-defense missiles and other kinds of missiles. Vertical launch cells will bring flexibility to the user in terms of weapons portfolio, thus giving it a stronger fighting capability, he said, adding that the Type 054AP is the best frigate Pakistan can access in the international market. The service of Type 054APs will double the combat power of the Pakistani Navy's surface fleet, he said.
