The Pan-Pearl River Delta Region ("PPRD") consists of nine provinces or regions including Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan, as well as the Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR ("9+2").

In order to promote implementation of matters regarding enhanced regional cooperation in the PPRD, governments of participating parties agreed to launch a joint declaration on deepening PPRD regional cooperation (2015-2025) (the "Joint Declaration").

Enhancing Cooperation Areas

1) On infrastructures. To establish comprehensive transport networks in line with the requirements of regional cooperation and development, and realize integration of regional transport sectors gradually; to implement the national energy strategy of electricity and gas transmission from the west to the east, escalate cooperative development of energy projects, encourage cross-provincial cooperation in energy production and marketing, realize synergy in regional energy strengths and market demands; and to implement projects on oil transmission and gas pipelines within the region.

2) On industrial investment. To provide a fair, open, and business-friendly investment environment, and establish transparent, accessible, and standardized investment incentives; to support technological, production and investment cooperation among enterprises in the region, forge an industrial structure that features complementary strengths, coordinated synergy, and shared development, and to improve overall productivity of the region.

3) On commerce and trade. To enhance a credit system, eliminate regional barriers of goods circulation, establish sound, standardized and orderly markets; to promote mutual recognition of standards on quality, inspection, and certification for industrial and agricultural products, and enhance cooperation on standard-setting by local authorities and enterprises, mutual recognition of statutory inspection authorities' results, and free circulation of goods; to enhance coordinated efforts to facilitate trades; and to step up a regional port cooperation mechanism for higher clearance efficiency.

4) On tourism. To collectively plan and promote tourist products in the region, establish barrier-free tourism region in the PPRD, and create regional travelling brands; to enhance and improve mechanism on information exchanges; to regulate the tourist market properly, and improve service quality; and to enhance cooperation in tourist training.

5) On agriculture. To establish a stable purchase and sales network of food and other agricultural products in the region, set up a "green channel" for agricultural products, create a connection mechanism among leading companies, enhance development of agricultural technology and featured agriculture, promote cooperation on production, processing and sales of agricultural products, and work collectively on a food security system.

6) On human resources. To launch cooperation in labor supply and demand information circulation as well as service export and import organizations, promote orderly and reasonable flows of labor, protect lawful rights of migrant workers, and ensure coordinated administration; to establish and improve systems on professional training, technical education, and qualification certification; and to improve the quality of the working force in the region.

7) On technology and culture. To enhance technological and educational cooperation among higher education institutions and research institutes in the region, as well as exchanges of culture and persons; to promote sharing network of basic educational resources such as literature, information, expert database, animal and plant resources and hydrological resources; to set up a technological innovation system in the region; and to establish a platform for regional cooperation in technical projects and results transfer, and promote regional industrial coordination and strategic cooperation alliance.

8) On medical care and social security. To effect health and epidemic prevention cooperation to immediately report epidemic outbreaks, and coordinate forces on epidemic prevention, control and treatment; and to enable immediate settlement of medical treatment costs incurred in a different place when social medical insurance is filed within the region.

9) On environment protection. To set up a regional environment protection coordination mechanism for enhanced cooperation in clean production, water protection, ecology preservation, and atmospheric environment, establish regional environment protection planning, enhance ecological protection in the Pearl River basin, especially the middle and upper reaches, expand coordinated cross-provincial protection of water environment, strengthen resource preservation, and enhance the overall environment and capacity of sustainable development in the region.

10) On information system. To build regional information exchange networks; to enhance e-commerce standard-setting and regulation-making in line with national and global standards and regulations; and to establish an information exchange coordination mechanism, expand cooperation on information technology development and application, such as Internet-of-Things and cloud computing, and realize sharing of information and resources within the region.

11) On financial services. To enhance regional financial cooperation, further enhance an interactive relationship that features complementarity and mutual benefits among financial systems in the region, and achieve long term development of the financial services industries in the region.

Institutional Arrangement

1. Implement a joint meeting mechanism for 9+2 chief executives. The joint meeting should be held on a rotation-basis, and annually in one of the 9 capital cities of participating provinces, or in Hong Kong or Macao. The chief executive meeting sets to address major problems and matters regarding the PPRD regional cooperation, review progress of key cooperation projects, host bilateral and multilateral discussions, and promote regional cooperation in a pragmatic manner.

2. Establish a secretary-general meeting mechanism. In principal, within the following month of the chief executive meeting, a special meeting should be held. The meeting should oversee the implementation of agreed matters at the chief executive meeting, coordinate among the key cooperation projects, engage relevant parties in joint compiling of the planning, and file updates and recommendations to the chief executive meeting on the progress of PPRD regional cooperation. Before each chief executive meeting, a secretary-general meeting should be held to determine its site, agenda, and formal procedures.

3. Establish secretariat of chief executive meeting for the PPRD regional cooperation. The secretariat is responsible for administration and routine work of PPRD regional cooperation, and is set under the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission. The signing parties shall each set up a PPRD regional cooperation office under its development and reform commission, while the Hong Kong SAR government and Macao SAR government should both designate a specific authority to perform this role.

4. Establish connectivity and implementation mechanisms among different functions and departments.

Innovation Cooperation Platform

1. In line with the approach of "co-sponsors and rotated hosts", the session is held every other year in Guangzhou Municipality. Guangdong Province is a fixed host of the sessions, and one or two province(s) will be designated as co-host(s) for each session.

2. Expand participation by involving leading companies, think tanks and academics from home and aboard.

3. Engage with market resources. The size and formality of each session/trade talk should be proposed by the secretary-general meeting, and reviewed and approved by the chief executive meeting.