Guangdong vows to take lead in contributing to China's economic growth: SCIO conference

GUANGZHOU, China, March 31, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- A report from GDToday: Guangdong, a powerhouse and major player in foreign trade in China, vowed to continue its efforts to play a leading role in making greater contributions to the steady growth of the national economy at a press conference in Beijing on March 29.

Wang Weizhong, governor of Guangdong Province, said at a news conference held by the State Council Information Office (SCIO) of China that Guangdong is committed to promoting high-quality development and leading China's modernization.

Guangdong is a province with a large economy, a large population, and a large foreign trade. Its GDP reached 13.57 trillion yuan in 2023, accounting for one-tenth of the country's total, ranking first for 35 consecutive years. The province's economic growth target is five percent in 2024.

According to Wang, Guangdong will make it a top priority to achieve its economic growth target in 2024. It plans to implement more policies to expand investment, stimulate consumption, stabilize foreign trade, and create more jobs.

The construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is one of the priorities of the Guangdong government. Wang indicated that the province will continue to join hands with Hong Kong and Macao SARs to build the GBA into a world-class bay area.

Wang emphasized that Guangdong will continue to combine sci-tech innovation with industrial development, consolidate the existing eight industrial clusters with an output value of over one trillion yuan, accelerate the development of integrated circuits, new energy storage, new energy vehicles, low-altitude economy, artificial intelligence, and form new 500 billion yuan-level and trillion yuan-level industrial clusters. 

Wang added that Guangdong will speed up the construction of the entire process innovation chain and build an industrial technology innovation center with global influence.

Promoting rural revitalization is also among Guangdong's to-do list this year. Wang stated that the province will facilitate the orderly transfer of domestic and foreign industries, especially in the Pearl River Delta, to eastern, western, and northern Guangdong.

Wang and other senior officials of the Guangdong provincial government answered questions from domestic and foreign media, including Guangdong's economic mission, new quality productive forces, construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, coordinated development of urban and rural areas, foreign investment, ecological construction, bio-manufacturing, high-end manufacturing, and other fields.