The Guangdong Free Trade Zone turned one YESTERDAY. For a year, it has been taking advantage of its geographic location to develop closer links with Hong Kong and Macao.  The FTZ has the ambition to become a demonstration zone for cooperation with the two regions, where a large number of entrepreneurs are seeking business opportunities in the Chinese Mainland.

Vincent Chou owns an IT company and their latest product? An app linking social media with online stores.

Your idol posts a selfie on social media and you take a fancy to the coat she is wearing. You want to buy the same one but how would you know which is it? Through this app, you can place an order right away simply by clicking on the picture. This is what Vincent and his team are developing.

Before moving his company to the Hengqin Free Trade Area in Guangdong province, Vincent spent nearly four years in Macao. He decided to come to the Chinese Mainland last September.

"It is hard to find enough IT talents in Macao, but it’s easy in the Chinese Mainland. That’s the reason why I came. Most of our team members are from the Chinese Mainland,"  Vincent Chou, CEO of Zhuahai Hengqin Bringbuys IT CO. Ltd., said.

Vincent is not the only one. Over 80 percent of the entrepreneurs in the base are from Hong Kong and Macao. Special funds worth 2 billion yuan in total have been established to support these new companies, including VC investments as well as free offices and training courses.

"Collaborating with universities, organizations and official departments in Hong Kong and Macao, we hold regular activities to promote our project. Besides, we also invite young people to visit our base," Xu Mu, GM of Hengqing Inovalley Mangement Co. Ltd., said.

Over 4,000 enterprises from Hong Kong and Macao have registered or set up their branches since the the establishment of the Free Trade Zone.

"As more Hong Kong and Macao companies set up base in the Chinese Mainland, we’ll see more cooperation. This not only brings development to the two regions, but also contributes to economic growth in Guangdong Province," Zheng Jianrong, offcie director of Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone, said.