More areas within the Northern Metropolis development could benefit from new measures to ease cross-border flows of data, materials and capital, with pilot initiatives set to launch this year in Hong Kong’s innovation zone with Shenzhen.

The details were revealed on Saturday in a paper submitted to the Legislative Council by the Development Bureau, which provided an update on drafting dedicated legislation to accelerate development of the megaproject, a 30,000-hectare (74,131 acres) initiative near the border with mainland China, envisioned as an economic powerhouse.

According to the paper, the government is discussing implementation details for the cross-border flow of data, materials and capital with mainland counterparts at the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone.

“We are actively pushing to implement a pilot project this year. Based on the actual situation, we will consider expanding the measures to areas outside the Hong Kong Park,” the bureau said in the paper.

The zone, proposed by Beijing in 2017, comprises two parks on either side of the border. The Hong Kong park covers 87 hectares, while the Shenzhen park spans 302 hectares.

Industry players have called for looser restrictions on the cross-border flow of elements such as bio-samples to foster collaboration and support the city’s ambition to become an international I&T hub.