President Xi Jinping has given the southern province of Guangdong the task of strengthening technology, infrastructure and regulatory cooperation with Hong Kong and Macau to advance the Greater Bay Area scheme.

“Developing the Greater Bay Area is both a major responsibility and a rare development opportunity for Guangdong,” state news agency Xinhua quoted Xi as telling senior Guangdong officials on Saturday.

“Guangdong should make great effort to deepen cooperation with Hong Kong and Macau in areas such as technological innovation and cooperation, infrastructure connectivity, market regulation alignment, strengthening cooperation in all the procedures in legislation, law enforcement and the judiciary, as well as further market integration.”

The Greater Bay Area is the Chinese government’s scheme to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan, Dongguan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing into an integrated economic and business hub.Xi has been in Guangdong since Thursday and the comments are his first public remarks on the scheme and its place in national reform and development since the Communist Party’s upper echelon, the Central Committee, met last month to make recommendations for the country’s blueprint for the next five years.In their suggestions for the next five-year plan – covering the years 2026 to 2030 – the Central Committee highlighted Hong Kong’s role as a financial, trade and navigation centre for China, and as a “superconnector” for mainland China and the world.