The article covers the history of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in South China. Today it is the most rapidly developing and densely populated region of the country, one of the key points of the global project “The 21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. The article provides a step-by-step history of the settlement of the Greater Bay Area, as well as identifies various factors that have led to the active development of the urban cluster in the Zhujiang River Delta. The author focuses on the political, socio-cultural, economic and geographic features of the Greater Bay Area, which has evolved into one of the world-class urban clusters. Provides the main stages of the existence of trade relations in the region, including the epoch when Lingnan culture flourished, the “Canton era”, as well as the periods before and after the formation of the People's Republic of China. The characteristic features of the region, its isolation and structural reforms over the centuries have formed a specific context that has become not only the basis for the development of Guangdong province and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, but also the “engine” of a significant sector of the Chinese economy. In addition, a brief analysis of the current Greater Bay Are concept evolution has been attempted. Research papers by Chinese authors and government reports are used as the main sources of information. Due to the growing interest in this large-scale project and the achievement of the first planned results the Chinese academic community has recently published the data that was previously unavailable to the general readership. The use of these materials allows us to see the process of the Greater Bay Area formation through the eyes of Chinese authors who are immersed in cultural and historical realities, as well as to fill gaps in the Russian-language studies on this topic, to add individual facts into an overall picture and present a more structured view of the entire South China region history.