Mechanism innovation for shipping legal coordination in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area

To advance the construction of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) as a world-class international shipping hub, this study examines the structural challenges arising from fragmented regional shipping governance. Given the coexistence of distinct legal systems and regulatory regimes within the GBA, disparities in shipping legislation, enforcement mechanisms, and judicial practices have generated institutional barriers to market integration. Through a systematic doctrinal and institutional analysis of the existing legal framework, this paper identifies three principal constraints: pronounced divergences in substantive shipping rules, the absence of institutionalized enforcement information-sharing mechanisms, and limitations in cross-border judicial coordination. These factors collectively increase regulatory uncertainty and transaction costs, thereby impeding the competitiveness of the regional shipping sector. To address these deficiencies, the paper proposes the establishment of a standing coordination body led by the National People’s Congress to guide rule-of-law integration in the GBA. By strengthening legislative hierarchy, promoting harmonization of shipping regulations, enhancing intergovernmental cooperation, and deepening cross-border judicial coordination mechanisms, a more unified and authoritative governance framework can be constructed. Such reforms would provide high-level rule-of-law safeguards for the sustainable and integrated development of the GBA’s shipping market.