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City Introduction of Guangdong, China: Guangzhou

Published: 10 Apr 2009 16:39:35 PST

Guangzhou

Major Economic indicators (2007)

Land Area	7,435 km²
Population	10.0 million
GDP	RMB 705.1 billion (US$93.7 billion)
GDP Composition
Primary Industry (Agriculture)	2.3%
Secondary Industry (Industry&Construction)	39.9%
Tertiary Industry(Service)	57.8%
GDP Per Capita	RMB70,186 (US$9,331)
Unemployment Rate	2.2%
Fixed Asset Investment	RMB 186.3 billion, 9.8% up
Utilized FDI	US$3.3 billion, 12.4% up
Total Import & Export	US$73.5 billion, 15.2% up
Export	US$37.9 billion, 17.0% up
Import	US$35.6 billion, 13.4% up
Sales of Consumer Goods	RMB 259.5 billion, 18.9% up

Source: Guangzhou Economic & Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Guangzhou, also known as Canton, is the capital city of Guangdong Province - the largest economy in mainland China in terms of its GDP in 2007. The city was among the first batch of portal cities opened to foreign countries. Guangzhou is located in the middle of southern Guangdong, close to the South China Sea. Lying to the north of the Pearl River Delta, the city is 120 km northwest of Hong Kong and 145 km north of Macau.

Guangzhou has a convenient transportation system. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport handled nearly 31 million passengers and 695,093 tons of freight in 2007, ranking second and third in mainland China. The airport offers over 110 routes to more than 100 cities around the world weekly. Guangzhou Port is one of the busiest ports in China. In 2007, the cargo traffic and container throughput of Guangzhou Port rose 12.7% and 36.9% year-on-year to 341 million tons and 9.9 million TEUs, ranking third and fifth on the Mainland respectively. Guangzhou is also easily accessible by railways and highways, as the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Beijing-Kowloon Railway, Guangzhou-Zhuhai Railway and Guangzhou-Zhuhai Highway go through the city.

There were sixty-three universities and colleges in Guangzhou in 2007, with the number of college graduates rising 11.8% year-on-year to 137,400 within the same year. Prominent universities in the city include Sun Yat-Sen University, South China University of Technology, South China Normal University and Jinan University.