Science and technology innovation talent policy (STIP) is an important tool for government departments to allocate science and technology innovation talent resources optimally and to express government value. This study combed the STIP of 9 + 2 cities in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Great Bay Area (GBA) from 2000 to 2020. Through quantitative analysis, qualitative analysis and text analysis, the internal and external attributes of the STIP, such as time evolution, voice weight, policy types, talent strategic objectives and social network were studied. The results are as follows: 1) The STIP in GBA experienced a rapid growth where government value orientation and administrative logic shifted to science and technology innovation; 2) The differences of the issuing departments of STIP in GBA reflected the voice weight and coordination degree of departments; 3) Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Zhongshan and Jiangmen had made great efforts to attract talents, as a result, the advantages of human innovation resources are gradually highlighted. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan and Dongguan emphasized excellent service for talents, while Dongguan relatively emphasized the development and performance management of talent resources; 4) The similar industrial orientation of GBA also led to homogenization of talent competition. 5) The social network of policy documents in different cities show that the policies were centered but not linked. The centrality of STIP in Shenzhen and Zhuhai was high, while it was low in Guangzhou, Foshan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen. Therefore, this paper concluded with implications of building the high-caliber talent hubs in GBA, including strengthening the overall planning of talent work, optimizing the expression and implementation of talent policy, and developing a differentiation strategy of GBA cities.
