(Yicai Global) March 6 -- China should prioritize talent exchange in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area if it wants to meet its goal of improving the flow of production factors in the region, according to the deputy head of Guangdong's Comprehensive Reform and Development Research Institute.

Talent exchanges are the easiest of the four production factors to improve, Peng Peng told Yicai Global. Then the remaining factors, land, capital and entrepreneurship, can follow.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang delivered the nation's annual government work report during the Two Sessions yesterday, where he said China must act on plans it made for the region last month if it wants to build the area into a cluster of cities renowned globally for science and technology innovation and high living standards

The Two Sessions are the annual meetings held concurrently by the National People's Congress and National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's national legislature and top political advisory body. They are collectively hailed as the country's biggest political event of the year.

Youngsters in Hong Kong and bound to embrace more room for growth and development with the historic opportunities brought about by the Greater Bay Area, Peng added, saying in the future Hong Kong residents being employed in Guangdong will hopefully be the norm.

China's cabinet, the State Council, unveiled plans last year to wipe out 11 administrative licenses that would make employment across the Greater Bay Area simpler, such as by revoking the need for a permit allowing citizens of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao to work on the Chinese mainland section of the region.

Months earlier, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone in Shenzhen had announced a similar scheme for Hong Kong and Macao citizens, and even offered tax breaks to talent coming from the two special administrative regions.

Improving the flow of commodities and capital will be a big challenge, Peng added, saying that linking Chinese mainland and Hong Kong trade rules will be a key focus as Hong Kong is a free trade zone and does not levy tariffs on most circulated goods.

Editor: James Boynton