Page 70 - 2021 Special Report

Guangdong
The Economy
Guangdong has a total
area of have also developed a strong brand name, such
177,900 sq km. The total population stood at
115.2m at the end of 2019, out of which around
84% have registered residency. The Pearl River
Delta (PRD) is the province’s economic hub, its
GDP accounting for 80.7% of Guangdong’s GDP in
2019. The PRD Economic Zone covers nine cities –
Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Jiangmen,
Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing.
Guangdong remains the largest province
by economic size, at RMB10.77t or 10.9% of
the national total in 2019. Compared to other
economic hubs in China such as the Yangtze River
Delta, Guangdong stands out for having:
1) The largest external facing economy with
exports accounting for 25.2% of the national
total in 2019. Guangdong is also a major export-
processing base for foreign investors and the
home of the Canton Fair, China’s largest export
trade fair. Cities with the largest industrial
production include Guangzhou, Shenzhen,
Dongguan, Foshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and
Shantou; and
2) The largest retail market of consumer
goods at around 10.4% of the national total in
2019. With rising income levels and economic
structural adjustments, the consumer expenditure
pattern is also undergoing structural changes
in favor of services such as transportation and
communications.
Traditionally, light industry output accounted for
over half of the province's total industrial output.
Major products include electrical appliances such
as television sets, electrical fans and refrigerators,
and labor intensive products like garments,
toys, shoes and electronics. In recent years amid
70
rising labor costs, Guangdong is moving up the
production chain to higher technology industries.
Among them, many indigenous enterprises
as Huawei, Tencent, BYD, Midea and Gree. In
2019, the top five industries in Guangdong by
value-added were computers, communications
and electronic equipment, electrical machinery
and equipment, automobile manufacturing,
petrochemical processing and metal products.
As for the service sectors which accounted for
55.5% of GDP in 2019, Guangdong aims to further
increase their overall relative GDP share. While
service sector development will be expedited
across the board, the structure will be optimized
to develop Guangdong into a regional financial
center, a modern logistics hub in southern
China and an international business travel and
shopping center.
Guangdong accounted for about 16.2% of
China’s total utilized FDI. Foreign investments
in Guangdong are mainly engaged in tertiary
sectors, including leasing and business services
(27.6% of utilized FDI) and real estate (17.4%),
followed by wholesale and retail trade (8.5%) and
research and technical services (5.6%). The share
for manufacturing, meanwhile, declined to 25.2%
in 2019.
Recent Policies and Reforms
Opinions on Strengthening Financial Services
for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Sup-
porting Epidemic Prevention and Control and
Promoting Stable Economic Development
On 13 February 2020, the Financial Supervision
and Administration Bureau of Guangdong
Province, Department of Industry and Information
Technology of Guangdong Province, People's