On Wednesday, the Guangdong Provincial Government’s work report revealed that in 2024, the province’s GDP is expected to surpass 14 trillion yuan, and its total import-export volume is projected to exceed 9 trillion yuan—both setting new historical records.

Guangdong is on track to become China’s first province to achieve a GDP of 14 trillion yuan. This marks the 36th consecutive year that Guangdong has led the nation in economic output. 

In 2024, the Canton Fair’s spring and autumn sessions attracted nearly 500,000 international buyers, setting a new attendance record. Guangdong continues to open up, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen as pilot regions for wholly foreign-owned hospitals. In Shenzhen’s Qianhai district, Amazon’s first Asia-Pacific Innovation Center for Global Selling was inaugurated, boosting cross-border e-commerce opportunities for Chinese businesses. Despite global economic headwinds and sluggish recovery in international trade, Guangdong’s foreign trade defied trends with a 9.8% increase, reaching a record high of over 9 trillion yuan in 2024. 

Guangdong’s manufacturing industry maintained steady growth as well. The added value of Guangdong’s industrial enterprises above designated size rose by 4.2% year-on-year, with industrial output contributing roughly 50% of the province’s GDP growth.

Guangdong remains a national leader in technological and industrial integration. In 2024, two autonomous driving companies from the province—WeRide and Pony.ai—listed on Nasdaq, becoming the first two publicly traded companies in the global Robotaxi sector. Guangdong’s focus on innovation has positioned businesses as the primary drivers of technological breakthroughs. The province's R&D spending intensity reached 3.6%. Approximately 77,000 high-tech enterprises operate in the province. Guangdong is home to six national manufacturing innovation centers. The region has ranked first in China for overall innovation capacity for eight consecutive years. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou innovation cluster has been ranked second globally for five years. 

Guangdong accounts for about one-tenth of China’s total economy and one-eighth of the nation’s industrial output. In 2024, one in every four electric vehicles manufactured in China was produced in Guangdong. Guangdong contributed 2.2 of every five industrial robots and two of every five smartphones made in the country. The province’s foreign trade volume represented over one-fifth of China’s total, contributing nearly 40% of the national growth in foreign trade. Guangdong also led in fiscal revenue, completing 1.35 trillion yuan in local general public budget revenue, ranking first in China for 34 consecutive years. The province also generated the largest share of central tax revenues nationwide. On the employment front, Guangdong created 1.43 million new urban jobs, exceeding the national target of 1.1 million, while securing stable employment for 43.86 million migrant workers. 

To address regional disparities, Guangdong implemented campaigns to promote high-quality development in counties, towns, and villages,” transforming its weakest links into potential growth areas. In 2024, the province supported the relocation of 700 industrial projects, with total investments exceeding 300 billion yuan. For rural residents, disposable income growth outpaced urban counterparts for several consecutive years, narrowing the urban-rural income gap from 2.55:1 in 2019 to 2.31:1 in 2024. Population net inflows were recorded in regions like Zhanjiang, Jieyang, Shantou, and Maoming, reflecting balanced development across eastern, western, and northern Guangdong. 

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) continues to fuel economic growth, with its GDP reaching $1.99 trillion in 2023, a five-year increase of nearly $460 billion. The GBA’s economic scale has surpassed the New York and San Francisco Bay Areas, placing it on par with Tokyo Bay. Policies have been released to promote integrated development among the region, such as rolling out unified 54 GBA standards, and achieving cross-border handling of 187 high-frequency government services. Infrastructure milestones such as the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Corridor and the Huangmaohai Cross-Sea Corridor were completed. Over 4.5 million vehicle crossings were recorded under the northern bound travel policies for Hong Kong and Macau vehicles.

Guangdong has also positioned itself as a leader in emerging sectors. The province’s low-altitude economy, which garnered significant attention in 2024, now boasts over 15,000 related enterprises, with a market size exceeding 100 billion yuan, both ranking first in China. Looking ahead, experts predict that Guangdong’s modern industrial system could see the added value of traditional, emerging, and future industries surpass 13 trillion yuan by 2035. Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, emphasized Guangdong’s unique advantages in robotics and AI, highlighting the synergy between mechatronics and artificial intelligence in the GBA. 

For 36 years, Guangdong has led the nation’s economic development, and the province remains resolute in its drive to innovate and lead the next phase of China’s modernization journey.