Guangdong: In accordance with the government work report that the governor of Guangdong province delivered at the Third Session of the 14th Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress on January 15, 2025, the province’s GDP was estimated to surpass 14 trillion yuan in 2024, ranking first in China for 36 consecutive years, and its total imports and exports increased by 9.8% year-on-year to exceed 9 trillion yuan, both hitting a new record.
According to Lao News Agency, the two sessions of the Canton Fair in spring and autumn in 2024 attracted about 500,000 overseas purchasers, a record high. Additionally, Guangzhou and Shenzhen were selected as pilot cities to allow the establishment of wholly foreign-owned hospitals. Amazon Global Selling launched its first innovation center for the Asia-Pacific region in the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, Shenzhen, aiming to assist more Chinese e-commerce enterprises in going global.
Thanks to the strong industrial development of the provin
ce, especially in manufacturing, ‘Made in Guangdong’ stood out in the global market. While the domestic real estate sector underwent significant adjustments, Guangdong’s manufacturing industry maintained steady growth, effectively mitigating the economic impact of real estate fluctuations and further consolidating the province’s economic foundation.
In 2024, the added value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in Guangdong increased by 4.2% year-on-year, with the industrial sector contributing approximately 50% to the province’s GDP growth. Industry and technology in Guangdong are mutually reinforcing, with new quality productive forces emerging with considerable vitality. The province’s research and development investment intensity is around 3.6%, hosting about 77,000 high-tech enterprises and six national manufacturing innovation centers.
Guangdong has led the nation for eight consecutive years in terms of comprehensive regional innovation capacity, and the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou scie
nce and technology cluster has ranked second globally for five consecutive years. Presently, Guangdong’s economic aggregate accounts for about one-tenth of the national total, while its industrial scale accounts for roughly one-eighth. The 4.2% year-on-year increase in the added value of industrial enterprises above the designated size in Guangdong has provided robust support for the stability of the nation’s industrial foundation.
In 2024, one in four new energy vehicles, 2.2 out of every five industrial robots, and two out of every five smartphones produced in China originated from Guangdong. The province’s foreign trade scale accounted for more than one-fifth of the country’s total, contributing nearly 40% to national foreign trade growth. Guangdong’s local general public budget revenue reached 1.35 trillion yuan, maintaining its top nationwide position for 34 consecutive years.
The central-level tax revenue from Guangdong was the highest in the country. A total of 1.43 million new jobs were created in u
rban areas in Guangdong, surpassing the central government’s annual target of 1.1 million, with 43.86 million workers from outside the province maintaining stable employment. Furthermore, Guangdong continued to cultivate and expand industries with distinctive characteristics and advantages at the county level, with 15 main platforms undertaking approximately 700 new industrial transfer projects with a total investment of about 300 billion yuan.
In 2024, 54 Greater Bay Area (GBA) Standards were released, and 187 cross-boundary administrative services frequently needed were launched. The Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link and the Huangmaohai Sea-Crossing Passage opened to traffic, and 4.5 million vehicles entered Guangdong via the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Port.
Guangdong, ranking first nationwide for 36 consecutive years in terms of GDP, is expected to achieve even greater accomplishments in the future.