Central government has preliminarily approved a Greater Bay Area university in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

The city has said it plans to embrace the branch campuses of Hong Kong universities.

The city will also improve the quality of Dongguan University of Technology to help drive regional innovation, said Dongguan mayor Xiao Yafei in a recent interview with Nanfang Daily.

Comprising nine cities in Guangdong province and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is 56,000 square kilometers region with a 2017 population of 70 million.

The outline development plan for the bay area was released in February.

High-technology enterprises now number 5,798 in Dongguan, with research and development (R&D) spending accounting for 2.55 percent of the city's GDP.

The number of advanced R&D institutions collaborating with universities has increased to 33, Xiao said.

Dongguan currently ranks second in Guangdong in international patent applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty, he said.

Xiao pledged more support for high-tech enterprises and new R&D facilities, aiming next year to accommodate 6,000 high-tech firms and 50 advanced R&D institutions.