The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. [Photo/VCG]

Overseas Chinese people are being encouraged to actively participate in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as the region creates greater business potential.

The proposal, announced during the Overseas Chinese Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Conference, encouraged overseas Chinese to start businesses and push development of high-end industries in the area.

The Bay Area includes nine cities in Guangdong province and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions. It aims to develop into a "role model of high-quality development", according to the central government.

"The Bay Area is of great market potential not only for businesses from Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao, but for all overseas Chinese," Choi Koon-shum, chairman of the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said at the conference.

The conference, which opened on Tuesday in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong, drew more than 400 overseas Chinese living and doing business in over 100 countries and regions.

Hong Kong, which has an advantage in finance and modern service industries, will play a big role in the development of the high-end industrial cluster in the Bay Area, he said.

"Guangdong is very strong in advanced manufacturing. Hong Kong's strength in finance and modern service would help manufacturing businesses in Guangdong better link to the global market and expand their businesses," Choi said.

To better facilitate business integration between the three regions, Guangdong will establish three innovation and entrepreneurship bases in Nansha in Guangzhou, Qianhai in Shenzhen and Hengqin in Zhuhai by 2020, to help young people from Hong Kong and Macao start up businesses in the province, according to a plan announced by the provincial government in May.

The bases in Nansha, Qianhai and Hengqin, which are included in the Guangdong pilot free trade zone area, will be expanded to six more cities in the Bay Area, according to the plan.

"Young people from Hong Kong and Macao are more welcome to start up their businesses in the Bay Area, thanks to a series of preferential policies and an improved business environment," said Jack Lam, director of the Guangzhou Tianhe District Hong Kong-Macao Youth Association.

According to Lam, the association has so far helped introduce more than 70 startup projects initiated by young business people from Hong Kong and Macao.

"The projects are mostly engaged in emerging industrial areas, such as the internet of things, greater health, architecture design and environmental protection," Lam said.

Lam came to Guangzhou in 2000 to help his family run a raw-food material business on the Chinese mainland. "I have been visiting so many cities on the mainland, which are now creating dynamic market potential for business people from Hong Kong and Macao," Lam said.