Hong Kong and Macau Urged to Become 'Super-Partners' in Cross-Border Data Flow for Greater Bay Area

**Key Facts** • Over 17,000 Macau elders received services at four home care centers in Hengqin last year, yet cross-border health data sharing remains unestablished [1] • Hong Kong ranks 4th globally in IMD's 2025 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking, placing first worldwide in "Technology Framework" and "Attitude towards Adaptation" [1] • China's 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly promotes "orderly expansion of opening up in the digital domain" and "advancing efficient, convenient, and secure cross-border data flow" [1] • Macau enacted its Personal Data Protection Law years ago, providing a strong privacy protection foundation for pilot data governance experiments [1] • Four major platforms—Hengqin, Qianhai, Nansha, and Hetao—have been established to deepen GBA integration, each targeting specific sectors [1] **Challenges and Opportunities** The core obstacle to cross-border data flow lies in the absence of seamless systems connecting Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau. A Macau elder seeking medical care at a Hengqin clinic faces repeated examinations because their medical history, stored in Macau's systems, cannot be accessed across the border. This scenario represents the broader challenge of "data barriers" blocking the "last mile" of cross-border eldercare integration [1]. **Proposed Mechanisms** The author proposes two critical mechanisms for a functional "super-partnership": First, establishing clear revenue distribution principles for data transactions based on contributions from data origin, processing, and trading locations. Second, creating a co-investment and profit-sharing framework for cross-border data infrastructure, where verification platforms and data centers are jointly funded, owned, and supervised by all three jurisdictions [1]. **Strategic Positioning** Hong Kong's common law system and international recognition position it as an ideal gateway for China's data to "go global" and international data to "enter China." Macau, leveraging its China-Portugal platform and healthcare industry strengths, can serve as a controlled "sandbox" for data governance innovation, particularly in medical data, tourism data, and exchanges with Portuguese-speaking countries [1]. The four major platforms complement this strategy: Hengqin focuses on healthcare and biomedical data integration; Qianhai targets fintech and cross-border trade financing; Nansha leverages advanced manufacturing and international logistics; and Hetao pursues deep Hong Kong-Shenzhen sci-tech innovation through its "one zone, two parks" model [1].