China’s Greater Bay Area under digital transformation

Zoom meeting ID: 984 8351 2213

The development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area (GBA) has attracted tremendous attention since the plan of which as a national strategy was promulgated by the State Council in March 2019. A growing body of literature has devoted to exploring the profound transformation of the GBA, particularly in the proliferation of digital economy. In this presentation, I draw upon my recent empirical research to reflect the economic and social aspects of digital transformation in the GBA driven by China’s domestic digital platforms and related technological applications. The first research integrates the conceptual insights of the platform capitalism and Global Production Networks (GPN) theories to examine the digital platform-driven industrial restructuring in Shenzhen, based on the case of Tencent’s market power in reconfiguring mobile games industry and beyond. The second research, based on questionnaire surveys and focus group interview during the covid-19 pandemic period, compared the application of digital technologies, particularly mobile applications (apps) between Hong Kong cross-border older residents and local elderly in Shenzhen, and subsequent implications for cross-border ageing in the GBA. I will conclude by highlighting research challenges and agenda associated with urban and regional transformation in the digital age.