Over 3,100 Macao-funded enterprises have now been registered on the island of Hengqin, which abuts Macao, the China Daily reports, citing an official of the Hengqin New Area Management Committee, Wu Chuangwei.

The Chinese state-owned newspaper quotes Mr Wu as saying 900 have been newly registered since the end of last year.

Mr Wu said Macao enterprises accounted for 58 percent of external investment in the Hengqin New Area.

The report quotes an executive of e-commerce company Macao Bringbuys Web Technology, Chloe Wang, as saying official incentives have led many Macao investors to use Hengqin as a springboard into mainland China.

Ms Wang’s company now has over 160 employees, 80 of them in Macao, having had just 13 when it was set up in 2016, the China Daily says.

Macao Bringbuys runs a website for economic engagement by China and the lusophone world, and has an information technology project in Cabo Verde.