On March 23, the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin signed cooperation agreements with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, ELANTAS group, and the United Laboratories International Holdings Limited, aiming to boost its development in financial services, biotechnology, traditional Chinese medicine and electrical insulating materials.

The newly-signed projects are intended to serve the development of the cooperation zone's "four new industries" (sci-tech research and high-end manufacturing; traditional Chinese medicine; cultural tourism, convention and exhibition; and modern finance).

The statistics show that there are 1542 newly-registered enterprises in the "four new industries" in the cooperation zone, accounting for 35.9 percent of the total number of newly registered enterprises, contributing 12.5 billion RMB in tax revenue, an increase of 9 percent year-on-year.

According to the agreements, the Executive Committee of the cooperation zone will cooperate with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Guangdong Branch) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Macao) Limited in cross-border investment, bond markets, people's livelihood finance, financial technology, talent training and others.

As for ELANTAS group from Germany, a leading manufacturer of insulating and protective materials focusing on the electronics industry, it will set up its China headquarters in the cooperation zone. With the headquarter there, the company aims to take new material R&D and related businesses, attracting high-end talent from Macao and the world.

United Laboratories International Holdings Limited focuses on developing the biomedicine sector in Hengqin. Its product line covers peptide drugs, nucleic acid drugs, recombinant protein drugs, and so on. It will bring at least four clinical projects in the next five years, with an expected total investment of at least 500 million RMB.