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Just like the title goes. No one wants GCBD.
Every article I found on the internet suggests that there are no way but to backup everything yourself, then create a new account and select region besides China Mainland, try to get all of those backup data back to your new account. However it is not only tedious but also poses a risk of losing part of the data (e.g. Live Photo, Device Backups).
Is there really no way to transfer it more elegantly?
No, there's really no other way of transferring the data than by taking a copy and re-uploading it.
Apple does not provide a service to transfer the data directly between the two regions.
To post an answer to my own question here after a year.
Last week, I saw someone mention in a post (Chinese) that they "just transfer" their iCloud to the U.S. region and I'm baffled. After digging a bit more I discovered that you simply change your Apple ID Country/Region by going to App Store > Account (profile picture at top right) > Country/Region and you choose a new Country/Region there. Afterward, you will be greeted by a screen asking you to agree to the iCloud (not GCBD) Service Agreement. Accepting it, your iCloud will now be automatically transferred as well (shown in Settings > Apple ID > iCloud as "iCloud+" instead of "iCloud GCBD").
