Robots make life easier. They can feed people, and also drive the economic growth of human society.

O-Matic is a company making robots mainly used to paint and weld on construction sites. It has set up its production line in Foshan in Guangdong Province, and its research center in Hong Kong. This model may indicate how integration in the Hong Kong-Macao-Guangdong Greater Bay Area will look.

CARLOS LEE, CEO O-MATIC "Hong Kong needs more automation and more higher-ending technology for construction. The labor cost in Hong Kong is much higher than in mainland. Foshan is close to Hong Kong with all the necessary equipment. In Hong Kong, we are close to all the clients and all the testing. That's why I choose Foshan as the manufacturing base and Hong Kong as R&D and selling office here."

The Greater Bay Area is the central government's vision for an interconnected Pearl River Delta region in southern China. It will link Hong Kong, Macao and nine other cities in Guangdong Province in an integrated economic and business hub.

It will become the world's fourth bay area, following those in San Francisco, New York and Tokyo.

HONORARY PROF. THOMAS M. H. CHAN CHU HAI COLLEGE OF HIGHER EDUCATION "The Big Bay Area has 50 to 60 million population. It will be the largest among all the bay areas in the world. The area in Guangdong emphasizes industrial upgrading. Compared with other big bay areas in the world, this is the only one that continues to stress industrial development. That means they will have more innovation, more dynamism for the environment. Hong Kong as an international city, can contribute a lot to the regional development."

However, while within one nation, the bay area links two economic and administrative "systems", three currencies and multiple cities. Such complexity could pose more challenges for the project than for the other examples.

PROF. XIAO GENG HONG KONG UNIVERSITY "These problems cannot be solved through market. Because it involves laws about tax, about cross-border mechanism and about coordination among 11 cities. The difficulty is almost like WTO or any regional trade agreement. Very different legal systems. We will have to ensure very smooth flow of people, goods, money across the 11 cities."

Analysts say the key is to create a coordination mechanism between the central government and the cities involved. Once the problems are resolved, the area would become what's being called a "one-hour living circle" that would allow people to travel and work seamlessly between cities. LJJ, CGTN, HK.