BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- An outline development plan released Monday by China sets the spatial layout for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

The plan calls for measures to build a spatial network driven by poles and supported by axes, improve the development system of the city cluster and towns, and radiate the development to the Pan-Pearl River Delta Region.

It calls for a rational division of labor and complementary positioning among large, medium-sized and small cities.

Efforts should be made to further enhance coordination in regional development, facilitate the integrated development of urban and rural areas, and build a scientifically structured, compact and highly efficient bay area development framework, the plan says.

The plan, an important outline document guiding the current and future cooperation and development of the Greater Bay Area, covers the period from now to 2022 in the immediate term and extends to 2035 in the long term.