The New Path: Institutional innovation is boosting science, tech cooperation between mainland and Hong Kong

China＇s annual political season， known as the ＂two sessions＂ aims to get started in early March． Starting from today， we begin our special series ＂The New Path＂ to reflect on the progress made in China＇s path to modernization．

The CPC has created a new model in which it looks to build a community with a shared future． In the first episode， CGTN＇s Xu Hua takes us to the Greater Bay Area for a closer look．

From Taiwan to Massachusetts， from Hong Kong to Shenzhen， from the New York Bay Area to the Greater Bay area， Mr． Chen has been looking for a place to call home， and to conduct his scientific research．

FU－RONG CHEN Director， City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Futian Research Institute ＂Around 1986 and 1988， Germany and Japan showed the world their strong industries， which inspired me very much． I actually got a green card when I was working at Northwestern University． but I decided to come back to China．＂

Back in the 1980s， Mr． Chen noticed the momentum was rising in Asia， and the future of scientific innovation looked promising in China．

As a leading professor in electron microscopy， Mr． Chen finally found his ideal work place in the Hetao Shenzhen－Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone．

FU－RONG CHEN Director， City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Futian Research Institute ＂Scientific research and development actually need two things， one is a place， the other is the money． The cooperation zone has provided us with an independent research building． In the next 10 years， the Shenzhen Municipal government will invest nearly one billion yuan， around 145 million USD， to support our scientific research．＂

Institutional innovation is vital for Shenzhen and Hong Kong＇s science and technological cooperation． What have both sides done right so far？

ZHU JUNWEI Deputy Director， Administration for Construction ＆ Devt． Hetao Shenzhen－Hong Kong Sci－Tech Innov． Cooperation Zone ＂We have issued a batch of joint policy packages， scientific research policy packages， industrial policy packages， and plans to support Hong Kong and Macao， to break ground in research and the application of science and technology．＂

A total of 2．9 billion yuan， around 420 million USD， will be invested this year to build 150，000 square meters of high－quality research space， which has received praise from Mr． Chen＇s research team．