Hong Kong entrepreneur expands business in Greater Bay Area via cross-border policies

A Hong Kong young entrepreneur successfully expanded his business in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area by capitalizing on a startup program in Hong Kong and favorable policies from the mainland, showcasing the innovative opportunities born from Hong Kong-mainland collaboration.

Tony Fung Yiu-tung is the founder and CEO of eTeam Entertainment, Hong Kong's first extended reality (XR) arcade. Since its founding in 2019, the company has been a pioneer in XR, leveraging a blend of virtual, augmented, and mixed reality to drive digital transformation for businesses.

Fung credits much of his success to the "StarAgent" program by the Hong Kong charity Po Leung Kuk, which he joined in 2021. The program provides entrepreneurial support, including funding, market access, and networking opportunities, to young people aspiring to start businesses in Hong Kong and other cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

"Po Leung Kuk has provided a wide range of resource matching, including training courses, lectures, and advisory services. That one-on-one coaching was particularly valuable for us to expand into the mainland," Fung said.

Kathy Choy Fung-chi, project coordinator of the "StarAgent" program, has been traveling across the Greater Bay Area to help young entrepreneurs tackle challenges such as navigating different regulations and consumer preferences when entering the mainland market.

"We partner with dozens of innovation bases across the mainland, like Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Dongguan. We coordinate closely with them, learning local policies and matching startups with the right opportunities," Choy said.

Choy's groundwork paved the way for Fung to open a new branch in Guangzhou's Nansha District.

"Look at my office here, Nansha offers a modern environment, new facilities, favorable policies for business and personal subsidies, with costs around one-third of Hong Kong's. It is an ideal place for us to expand business with lower costs," Fung said.

Nansha District offers robust support for new businesses, featuring startup grants of up to 41,000 U.S. dollars and an annual rental subsidy of the same amount, complemented by full-service assistance from innovation hubs.

"We've served around 150 startups, 95 percent from Hong Kong. We offer full-chain services -- policy guidance, registration, tax advisory, and resource matching. Our team helps smoothen that transition," said Michelle Chan, board assistant at Sunwah Global Youth Innovation Center.

The center, officially inaugurated in Nansha in 2021, helps the district function as an assembly point for Hong Kong, Macao, and international youths to integrate into the development of the Greater Bay Area.

Additionally, Po Leung Kuk launched the upgraded "StarAgent" 2.0 program in March, which attracted 600 applications, marking a significant deepening of Hong Kong-mainland collaboration.

Fung's team is now growing rapidly in Nansha by capitalizing on a dual-city strategy that allows each location to fully leverage its distinct strengths.

"The support, benefits, and policies from the country have built a bridge for us, making it easier to do business, promote our work, and build teams here in the mainland. Our success is closely tied to the nation's development," Fung said.

Hong Kong entrepreneur expands business in Greater Bay Area via cross-border policies

The U.S. claim to take control of Greenland is unacceptable and it aims to sow division within its NATO members and its natural allies in Europe to serve its own interests, said a Spanish expert.

In an interview with China Media Group (CMG), Spanish international relations expert Javier Porras Belarra said he could not understand the U.S. position on Greenland and found the related remarks unacceptable.

"From our point of view, these U.S. statements are equivalent to an infringement on European territory, because we must remember that Greenland belongs to Denmark. That means we are facing a conflict, or at least a potential conflict, taking place on European soil, and even more broadly, between NATO member states. So U.S. President Donald Trump's claims regarding Greenland were nearly impossible to justify or accept, and the European Union is viewing this with a certain amount of astonishment, because this kind of claim from the U.S. is inconceivable," he said.

The expert said the U.S. administration has been intensifying divisions within NATO through its policies and rhetoric, while weakening ties with traditional European allies.

According to the expert, the U.S. administration is trying to undermine European unity to advance its own interests.

"The U.S. administration is deepening divisions within NATO and eroding relationships with its traditional allies, namely European countries. This is a classic 'divide and conquer' strategy. They think this will work in their favor and believe a united Europe is not in the U.S. interests, or at least not in the interests of the current administration," he said.

U.S. claim to control Greenland creates division within European allies for its own interests: expert