Meanwhile, Guangdong's socialist market economic system will further be improved, with the institutional mechanisms for high-standard opening-up becoming more robust in five years, Meng said, adding that social civility will also see notable improvement.

"The development of a culturally strong province will be advanced to a new high level, with vitality for cultural innovation and creation, and cultural soft power together with the influence of Lingnan (South China) culture will be remarkably enhanced in the following years," he added.

Wang Yueqin, director of the provincial department of science and technology, said Guangdong's comprehensive regional innovation capacity retained its top rank nationwide for nine consecutive years largely due to its strong corporate innovation capability.

The province is home to 74,000 high-tech enterprises and 56,000 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the inventory, both taking the lead in China, while a number of globally influential leading sci-tech enterprises have emerged, she said.

"During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we will unswervingly consolidate the dominant role of enterprises in innovation, and allocate more innovation resources including platforms, projects, talents and funds to enterprises and better connect such resources with them," said Wang.

She said her department will further support leading sci-tech enterprises to play their roles as industrial chain leaders, take the lead in forming innovation consortia, and undertake major scientific and technological breakthrough tasks, while granting enterprises decision-making power over the choice of technical routes.

She urged implementation of the chief scientist responsibility system, directly including enterprise chief scientists in the provincial science and technology expert database, and treating independent research projects undertaken by leading sci-tech enterprises as provincial science and technology program projects in the coming years.

"Building an open and collaborative innovation community in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area represents the distinctive feature and inherent strength of constructing the GBA international science and technology innovation hub. In the following five years, we will further deepen scientific and technological innovation cooperation with the two SARs," she said.

Gong Zhenzhi, director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said Guangdong will actively align with the five-year plans of Hong Kong and Macao, deepen all-around cooperation among the three regions, and jointly build a first-class bay area and world-class urban cluster brimming with vitality and international competitiveness in the coming years.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn