China's Xi uses key speech to promote integration of Hong Kong - CNBC

"Shenzhen should also promote development of Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macao — (the) Greater Bay area — and enrich the new practice of 'one country, two systems,'" Xi said, according to an official translation of his Mandarin-language remarks.

He was referring to a policy that has allowed the Chinese city of Hong Kong to operate as a semi-autonomous region under Beijing's rule.

The Chinese leader said there should be more cooperation within the Greater Bay Area to attract young people from Hong Kong and Macao to the mainland and so "increase their sense of belonging to the motherland.".

In less than 40 years, Shenzhen has surged into the ranks of the top three Chinese cities by gross domestic product, according to the analysis of Chinese financial journalist Wu Xiaobo, who is widely followed.

By 2018, Shenzhen's gross domestic product surpassed that of Hong Kong based on the annual average exchange rate, according to official calculations.

Shenzhen's GDP was at 2.422 trillion yuan that year, compared to 2.4 trillion yuan in Hong Kong, state-owned media China Daily reported.

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and amid tensions with the U.S., Chinese leaders in recent months have increasingly raised a vague, new term for economic development called "dual circulation" that puts a greater emphasis on the domestic market.