The State General Administration of Sport, the People’s Government of Guangdong Province, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) have recently jointly signed the “Agreement on Strengthening Sports Cooperation and Promoting Integrated Development” (hereinafter referred to as the “Quadripartite Agreement”).
On November 9th, the sports delegations of Guangdong Province, the HKSAR, and the MSAR marched together during the opening ceremony. The same day, the opening ceremony of the 15th National Games was held at the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center. Photo by Lu Hanxin, Xinhua News Agency.
As a landmark document summarizing the experience of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao’s joint hosting of the 15th National Games and advancing sports integration, the Quadripartite Agreement represents a practical exploration to leverage the unique functions and diverse values of sports in supporting the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and the cause of “One Country, Two Systems”. The agreement will comprehensively enhance exchanges and cooperation between the mainland, Hong Kong, and Macao in competitive sports, mass sports, sports industry, international sports governance, sports science and technology, sports culture, and sports rule of law. By encouraging the GBA to take the lead in pilot initiatives, pursue win-win cooperation, and achieve resource sharing, venue co-utilization, event co-hosting, talent co-cultivation, industrial common prosperity, technological co-innovation, and capacity co-improvement, the agreement aims to promote high-level, wide-ranging, and forward-looking sports integration among the three regions, serving the overall national development strategy.
Moving forward, the State General Administration of Sport will work with Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao to fully implement the content of the Quadripartite Agreement, strongly support the development of sports in Hong Kong and Macao, give full play to the unique functions and diverse values of sports, and make greater contributions to deepening the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and facilitating Hong Kong and Macao’s better integration into the overall national development.
