Retrospect and Prospect of Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao's Economic Relations Since Reform and Opening-up.

Nearly 40 years of reform and opening up witnesses the remarkable achievements of economic cooperation among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao. The economic relations among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao have evolved from a unitary pattern of "front shop and back factory" orienting at regional labor division at an earlier stage to a combination of multiple patterns including the "factory and shop combined" pattern. The regional scope has been expanded and the connotation of cooperation has been enriched. After entering into the 21^st century, Hong Kong, who is experiencing its economic transformation, faces the challenges brought about by the thriving of service industry in Guangdong Province. The three areas have been fighting over the hinterland through infrastructures connection and optimization, in order to realize an expansion of economic development space that can break through the restriction of land resources. In addition, under the background of strategies of the "Belt & Road Initiative" and "internationalization of the RMB," financial cooperation becomes the development emphasis at the third stage of economic cooperation among the three regions. When their economic relations change, the spatial pattern among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao gradually shifts from "concentrating on a small scale and dispersing on a large scale" toward "dispersing on a small scale and concentrating on a large scale." Based on an analysis on the development direction of the economic relations among Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macao in the future, the paper points out that the regional cooperation will transit from disperse development to border breaking, the region will develop from a livable bay area to a world-level bay area, and the spatial pattern will develop from center-hinterland to hub-network, which ultimately realizes a spatial response to the transition of economic relations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]