Investment in Guangdong

China’s Economic Leaders Guangdong Enterprises Around the Globe

Guangdong, also known as Yue (粤), is a coastal province on the southern end of China with a long history of commerce. It was one of the earliest trading ports in Chinese history and the starting point for the famous “Marine Silk Road”. Its provincial capital city, Guangzhou, is already 2221 years old.

With its status as China’s principal economic province, Guangdong is ranked first in a number of provincial economic indicators such as total regional GDP, total retail sales of consumer goods, household savings, number of patent applications, tax revenues, import and export volume, total tourism revenue, mobile phone ownership volume, number of web users and total transport turnover.

Its average annual import and export volume accounts for about a quarter of the national total and has been ranked first in the country for 23 consecutive years from 1985 to 2008.

Its total annual revenue accounts for approximately one-seventh of the national total while accumulated foreign investments accounts for about a quarter.  Its GDP was top in the country for 21 consecutive years from 1989 to 2010.

Guangdong has a sound industrial system and a well-developed manufacturing industry. It has also established nine pillar industries, which include textiles and garments, food and beverages, building materials, electronic information, electrical machinery and specialized equipment, petrochemicals, forestry and paper making, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles.

These industries have strong production, processing and supportive capacities, and is one of the larger manufacturing bases in China and in the world.

Currently, Guangdong is accelerating its industrial growth and has sped up its development in high-tech industries, focusing specifically on information technology, biotechnology, optical and electrical integration, new materials. The growth process has been especially pronounced in the regions within the “Guangdong IT Industries Corridor” such as Guangzhou, Huizhou, Dongguan, and Foshan, as well as in areas with petrochemical industries. All these will be part of a large collection of support industries, which will help to create favourable conditions for investments in Guangdong.

Guangdong actively encourages the development of businesses and logistics and has plans to exhibit three ancillary production services as well as to accelerate outsourcing services to provide investors with greater convenience. There has also been a rapid development of business intermediaries, significant enhancement in overall service and creation of innovative business intermediary service products. The logistics market is also more open and a platform for logistics information has been established which encircles the two main cities, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. This has enabled the integration of logistical resources, enhancement of joint logistics in enterprises and improvement of circulation efficiency, thus forming the Pearl River Delta (PRD) Economic Exhibition Belt that includes Foshan and Zhuhai, with Guangzhou–Dongguan–Shenzhen as the central axis.

In addition, thanks to the cooperation of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Industry Association, industries that focus on internationalisation, professionalism and trade have received preferential support to cultivate new national and international brands.

The Canton Fair held twice a year in Guangzhou is a barometer for China’s exports. For years, it has supported the sustained development of domestic and foreign trade as well as exports for the processing industries in Guangdong.

(A) Manufacturing Industries
Guangdong is one of the leading Chinese industrial provinces. Currently, Guangdong has nine pillar industries, namely electronic information, electrical machinery, petrochemicals, textiles and garments, food and beverages, building materials, paper, pharmaceuticals and automobiles, all of which play a leading role in the province’s industrial growth. 

Electronics, electrical machinery and specialized equipment, petrochemical are three newly-established pillar industries and have shown a strong trend of development, while the three traditional pillar industries, namely textiles and garments, food and beverages, and building materials, have shown steady growth. Papermaking, pharmaceuticals, and automobiles, on the other hand, are three emerging industries and have been developing rapidly with optimal structure.

1. Electronic information industry
   The scale of the electronic information industry in Guangdong has been ranked first in China. It has become one of the most important IT products manufacturing bases in China and the world. The information industry in this province is situated primarily in the Pearl River Delta region, with Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Huizhou, Foshan and Zhongshan as the main bodies, forming the famous IT industry corridor.
   
   
2. Electrical machinery industry
   Guangdong has formed an electrical machinery industry cluster with cities possessing better equipment manufacturing bases such as Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan in the Pearl River Delta to drive development in both the eastern and western regions. A number of high-end products which make up a large portion of the domestic market are produced in this region, such as Gree and Midea in the air-conditioning industry, Kelon in the refrigeration industry, Galanz in the microwave industry, and TCL and Konka in the colour TV industry. The major production bases for three key industrial areas are: Shunde, Zhongshan and Nanhai for high-end household appliances; Shenzhen and Dongguan for exported household appliances; Zhanjiang, Maoming and other western regions for economy household appliances.
   
   
3. Textile and garment industry
   Not only is Guangdong the largest producer and exporter of textile products nationally, it is also the third largest garment export base in the world. The casual wear from Zhongshan, the clothing and knitwear from Dongguan, the fabrics, knitwear, children’s clothing and undergarments from Foshan, the shirts from Jieyang (Puning), and other products have achieved worldwide recognition. According to statistics by the Foshan Customs Office in Gaoming, the total export for the first four months this year has increased up to US$ 210 million.
   
   
4. Building Materials Industry
   Guangdong is a major producer of building materials in China. It has a rich variety of building materials, such as the ceramics from Foshan, building paints from Foshan (Shunde), aluminium from Foshan (Dali), sanitary ware from Chaozhou, stone materials from Yunfun, and bathroom plumbing materials from Jiangmen (Kaiping). The total production volume is ranked first in the country.

(B) Service sector

1. Tourism
   Regional cooperation within the Pan-Pearl River Delta is a golden opportunity for Guangdong to promote its tourism industry. The current focus is enhancing the cooperation between Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in tourism, deepening the content of cooperation, and strengthening mutual liberalization and business cooperation in terms of tourism resources, capital and services within all three regions. There has also been further enrichment and optimization of tourism products, as well as accelerated structural adjustment in tourism to vigorously develop exhibition tourism, cultural tourism and modern revolution heritage tourism.
   
   There has also been a move to promote the integration of tourism with culture to enhance the cultural content of tourism. There have been efforts to unearth the cultural connotations of tourism resources and vigorously develop the unique characteristics of various dialect groups such as the Cantonese, Hakka and Chaoshan as well as to promote cultural tourism among those who are seeking to know more their ancestral heritage. In 2010, the total tourism revenue of the province reached RMB 275 billion (about RM134.8 billion), and the overall scale, quality, efficiency and international competitiveness of the tourism industry in the province is one of the best in the country.
   
   
2. Cultural industries
   In line with the ultimate aim of establishing a major cultural province, the promotion of cultural and economic integration has been greatly encouraged to ensure the development of cultural industries. Priority has been given to the development of print media, radio broadcasting, film and television, publishing and copyright services, performing arts and entertainment industry, and other core cultural industries. The current focus has been on the development of the cultural and creative industries, the active introduction of modern technology to support and permeate traditional cultural industries, and the expansion of emerging cultural industries. There has also been accelerated construction of an information exchange and service trading platform for the cultural and creative industries in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. In addition, there has been vigorous development of graphic design, animation, arts and crafts, film and television production, online games and other creative industries.
   
   
3. Lodging and catering industry
   There have been all-rounded efforts to standardize the service quality of the lodging and catering industry and its management. Furthermore, there have been on-going efforts to promote the classification and gradation of restaurants and hotels and to create eco-friendly hotels, as well as to improve service quality and management level of the accommodation and catering industry. The current developmental emphases are on the promotion of branded hotel chains and to increase the scale of the hotel industry to increase networking and conglomeration within the industry.
   
   In addition, famous Cantonese chefs, delicacies and restaurants, are actively cultivated. Well-known restaurants are encouraged to develop their brands and open franchises. This will enable the establishment of a bigger and stronger group of robust, competitive leading catering enterprises, driven by the development of small and medium-sized food and beverage companies. Furthermore, there has been a move to strengthen the Chinese fast-food industry and the industrialization of Chinese food production.

Guangdong Overview:
Land area   :  179,800 square km
Population  :  100,505,000
Language   :  Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka dialects
Climate      :  Guangdong is located in the south, and therefore has hot and rainy summers, mild and dry winters with occasional snow.