Guangdong's capital city, Guangzhou, has made significant achievements during China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) period, with its GDP increment projected to reach 700 billion yuan and its world city ranking advancing into the global first-tier category, as disclosed at a press conference held on December 8 in Guangzhou.
The press conference focuses on "Achievements of Guangdong's 14th Five-Year Plan – Guangzhou Session".
The 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) is China's national development blueprint guiding economic and social progress, with the goals of promoting high-quality development and building a modern socialist country during this period.
According to Sun Zhiyang, mayor of Guangzhou, the city's economy broke the 3-trillion-yuan barrier in 2024, hitting 3.1 trillion yuan. It is now only China's third city to record trillion-yuan-level volume in both total retail sales of consumer goods and total value of foreign trade imports and exports, with both sectors showing sustained growth.
Sun indicated that during the 14th Five-Year Period, a series of major national-level platforms and flagship initiatives were established in Guangzhou. These include the Nansha Plan, aimed at driving integrated development within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; the Guangzhou National Laboratory, dedicated to medical R&D commercialization; the Guangzhou Futures Exchange, China's first mixed-ownership exchange; and the South China National Botanical Garden, a state-level institution committed to plant diversity worldwide.
In terms of sci-tech innovation, Guangzhou climbed to 6th place in the Nature Index global science cities ranking in 2025, according to the press conference. Additionally, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong innovation corridor was ranked the world's top science and technology cluster for 2025.
Guangzhou now ranks 22nd globally in the authoritative GaWC (Globalization and World Cities Research Network) city classification, cementing its Alpha (first-tier) status.
Regarding the city's foreign relations, over 30,000 new foreign-funded firms have been established in recent years. The number of Fortune Global 500 companies with operations in Guangzhou has reached 368. Its international network has also expanded, now hosting 69 foreign consulates and having 111 sister cities.
Reporter/Poster Script | Huang Xinyi
Photo | Huang Xinyi, Nanfang Plus
Graphic Design | Chen Siyuan
Editor | Hu Nan, James Campion, Shen He
