BEIJING, April 1st (ABP) – The State Council Information Officice of the People’s Republic of China organized on Friday 29, 2024 in Beijing, a press conference on Guangdong’s dedication to advancing high-quality development and spearheading Chinese modernization.
In his introductory speech to kick off the press conference, the governor of Guangdong province, Wang Weizhong, reminded the conference participants General Secretary Xi Jinping’s confidence in Guangdong to remain committed to the goal of building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation, while maintaining its leadership position in comprehensively deepening the reform, expanding high-level opening up, enhancing self-reliance and strength in science and technology, building a modern industrial system, and promoting coordinated urban-rural and regional development.
Governor Weizhong pointed out that under the guidance of the wise leadership of the CPC Guangdong provincial committee, they fully and faithfully applied the new development philosophy on all fronts, gave support to and integrated Guangdong into the new development paradigm, and attained new progress in socioeconomic development by upholding fundamental principles while breaking new ground.
He revealed that in the last year, Guangdong’s economy recovered against headwinds. Guangdong’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 13.57 trillion yuan, up 4.8%. Guangdong is the first province to exceed 13 trillion yuan and has held the top place in China for 35 consecutive years.
Guangdong made important progress in modernizing the industrial system by prioritizing the real economy as the foundation and the manufacturing industry as the pillar. ” We issued favorable policies on promoting high-quality development of private economy, nurturing and supporting individual businesses, developing finance leasing, and reducing manufacturing costs. We supported over 7000 small enterprises in upgrading to a level above the designated scale. We promoted the digital transformation of more than 5000 industrial enterprises above the designated scale “, he exemplified.
As for the prospects, Guangdong government must unwaveringly enhance the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry and keep developing new quality productivity that represents new technology, creates new values, and shapes new growth drivers. The Guangdong government will improve investment and financing mechanisms, launch new mechanisms for the cooperation between the government and private capital, to name but a few.
During the press conference, journalists wanted to know the Guangdong’s performance in the first two months of this year, given that it is known as a main driver of China’s economy. Provincial Governor Weizhong said Guangdong’s economy performed well in the past two months and showed its strong resilience: Guangdong welcomed 76.1 million tourists during the Spring Festival holiday that ended February 17, up 68 percent from a year earlier.Tourism-related revenue surged 161 percent to nearly 70 billion Yuan.
Guangdong’s economy continues to grow. Guangdong remains a popular destination for foreign enterprises. In January and February, 2982 new foreign-funded companies were registered.
As far as trade cooperation between Guangdong and Africa is concerned, that provincial authority revealed that in terms of foreign trade, Africa is Guangdong’s main partner, with total imports and exports exceeding 270 billion yuan last year, a growth of 3.9%, accounting for 13.7% of China’s trade with Africa, he said.
Note that Guangdong province is home to tourism and foreign investment with favorable business environment.