Regions and Provinces

Guangdong & Pan-Pearl River Delta Brief

GUANGDONG

Guangdong Province, located in southeast China, occupies a land area of 178,000 sq km. Its islands add a further 1,600 sq km. To the south it meets the warm waters of the South China Sea along a coastline of 3,368 km. The Tropic of Cancer runs through the center of this low latitude province where the Pearl River, 2,122 km long, meets the sea. The fertile Pearl River Delta is rich in fish and rice. The provincial capital of Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are among the most populous and important cities in China.

Guangdong is the country's richest province with the highest total GDP among all provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2003 was US$165 billion, increased to US$265 billion in 2005 (about the same size as Denmark). In 2006 that number increased to US$329.07 billion and by 2007 its GDP has grown another 14.5% to reach 3.06 trillion yuan (US$422 billion).1 Guangdong contributes approximately 12.5% of national economic output. Guangdong also hosts the largest Import and Export Fair in China called the Canton Fair which is hosted by the city of Guangzhou.2

Geography and Climate

Guangdong faces the South China Sea to the south and has a total of 4,300 km of coastline. It borders Fujian province to the northeast, Jiangxi and Hunan provinces to the north, Guangxi autonomous region to the west, and Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions to the south.

Guangdong has a humid subtropical climate (tropical in the far south), with short, mild, dry, winters and long, hot, wet summers. Average daily highs in Guangzhou in January and July are 18C (64F) and 33C (91F) respectively, although the humidity makes it feel much hotter in summer. Frost is rare on the coast but may happen a few days each winter well inland.

Economy

The province is now one of the richest in the nation, with the highest GDP among all the provinces, although wage growth has only recently begun to rise due to a large influx of migrant workers from neighboring provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2006 was 2.60 trillion yuan (US$329.07 billion), a rise of 12.9% on a year-on-year basis. By 2007 its GDP has grown yet another 14.5% to reach US$422 billion.

In 2005, Guangdong's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 137.46 billion yuan, 1.08 trillion yuan, and 957.94 billion yuan respectively.3 Its per capita GDP reached 28,007 yuan (US$3,509), more than double than in 2000.4 Guangdong contributes approximately 12.5% of the total national economic output.3 Now, it has three of the six Special Economic Zones: Shenzhen, Shantou and Zhuhai. The affluence of Guangdong, however, remains very much concentrated near the Pearl River Delta.

In 2007 its foreign trade also grew 20% from the previous year and is also by far the largest of all of China. By numbers, Guangdong's foreign trade accounts for 29% of China's US$2.17 trillion foreign trade or roughly US$634 billion.5

Demographics

Guangdong officially became the most populous province in January 2005.67 Official statistics had traditionally placed Guangdong as the 4th most populous province of China with about 80 million people, but recently released information suggests that there are an additional 30 million migrants who reside in Guangdong for at least six months every year, making it the most populous province with a population of more than 110 million.8 The massive influx of migrants from other provinces, dubbed the "floating population", is due to Guangdong's booming economy and high demand for labor.

Guangdong is also the ancestral home of large numbers of overseas Chinese. Most of the railroad laborers in Canada, Western United States and Panama in the 19th century came from Guangdong. Emigration in recent years has slowed with economic prosperity, but this province is still a major source of immigrants to North America and elsewhere in the world.

PAN-PEARL RIVER DELTA

The Pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) is an economic zone planed by Guangdong and its neighbouring 8 provinces. It's China's most extensive regional alliance, mutually beneficial economic structure that will take to the forefront of China's booming development.

PPRD is also known as the 9+2, Fujian, Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan, plus Hongkong and Macao special administrative regions.

It won the central government's full support and encouragement, evoked positive response among the provinces, the autonomous region, Hongkong and Macao, and gained through-going social approval.

The eight provinces and one autonomous region have achieved tremendous inter-provincial cooperative breakthroughs in the economic and technological.

Hong Kong and Macao's role within PPDR is to promote the eight provinces and one autonomous region's manufacturing industry. This will be accomplished by Hong Kong enacting its role as main world service center and Macao performing the function of regional business and trade service platform.

Regional cooperative development apart, the Pan-Pearl River Delta also aims at the international market.

It was the establishment and development of Sino-ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations9) Free Trade Zone that motivated Guangdong Province and its peripheral areas to break borders and enhance trade relations to become a true bridgehead.

Economic and trade cooperation between the nine provinces/autonomous region and Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions is also brisk.

In 2003, total trade volume between the two SARs and the nine inland PPRD participants amounted to US $65.1 billion, representing 72 percent of total trade between the inland and the two SARs.

In the same period, the nine inland localities absorbed US $7.8 billion in direct investment from Hong Kong and Macao, accounting for 43 percent of the inland total.

Notes

• 1Guangdong sees GDP soar 14.5%
• 2Canton Fair, also called China Import and Export Fair, is held twice a year in Spring and Autumn since it was inaugurated in the Spring of 1957. It is China's largest trade fair of the highest level, of the most complete varieties and of the largest attendance and business turnover. Preserving its traditions, the Fair is a comprehensive and multi-functional event of international importance. The official site of China Import and Export Fair
• 3Guangdong achieves doubled GDP in past 5 years - News.xinhuanet.com (02-04-2006)
• 4Guangdong leads nation by budget revenue - News.xinhuanet.com (02-02-2006)
• 5Guangdong reports 20% foreign trade growth
• 6Guangdong becomes most populous province - English people.com.cn (01-30-2005)
• 7Guangdong becomes most populous province - Chinadaily.com (01-29-2005)
• 8media163 (02-01-2005) (Chinese only)
• 9The official website of Association of Southeast Asian Nations