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Guangzhou Avantages

Information provider：zanya consultants Updated:2013/09/04 Website：www.companyformation86.com

As one of the central cities of China and core cities of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou has long been the top choice for multinationals for investment deployment in China since China's reform and opening-up. It has so far drawn about US$50 billion of FDI and over 20,000 FDI projects on a cumulative basis.

The Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the Pearl River Delta (2008-2020) (the Outline) gave Guangzhou new roles, namely China's central city as well as a comprehensive portal city and a regional culture & education center; It also put forward that Guangzhou shall be built into the "best place" in both urban and rural Guangdong and an metropolis with international exposure and serving China as well. According to the Outline, Guangzhou will work to improve high-end elements clustering, scientific &technological innovation, cultural guidance and comprehensive service offerings, highlight the development of high-end service industries and accelerate the construction of advanced manufacturing bases, so as to intensify its role and enhance its influence as a central city of China. Based on the plan, it will take about ten years to develop Guangzhou into a metropolis with international exposure and serving China as well.

Profound historical connotations

As a 2,200-plus-year commercial city, Guangzhou has long been the maritime trade center since the Qin and Han Dynasties, and was the only foreign trade port city in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Guangzhou rose, grew and flourished based on commerce and trade, which has far-reaching influence in the history.

Today's Guangzhou is an important commercial center of China. With the goal of developing into an international commercial and trade center, it has worldwide reputation for hosting China Import and Export Fair, and the goods made in Guangzhou are sold across the globe. Relying on its unique geographical location and backed by the abundant Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou remains strong as a great oriental port despite twists and turns.

Economic Environment

Since China launched the reform and opening-up campaigns more than 20 years ago, Guangzhou's economy has been expanding at an average annual rate of 13%. Today, Guangzhou ranks third among major Chinese cities in terms of comprehensive economic strength. The city's industrial and agricultural production has been increasing constantly and foreign trade has been growing by leaps and bounds. Guangzhou is a central city in China's economic growth with a solid foundation in industry, a flourishing tertiary industry sector and balanced economic development.

Superior Geographical Location

Guangzhou has superior geographical and regional advantages. In terms of distance, Guangzhou is located in the geometrical center of the economic circle of Southeast Asia and therefore it is equidistant from Japan and Southeast Asian countries within a flight voyage of 3 to 4 hours in general.

In terms of geographical location, Guangzhou is an open coastal city neighboring Hong Kong and Macao, and the economic, political, and cultural center, and also the commercial center, which combines manufacturing, transportation, commerce, finance, information, education and human resources as a whole. It is located in the center of the Pearl River Delta, one of the most economically dynamic and flourishing areas in China. Guangzhou exerts an impact on China, East Asia and even the world with its economic capacity and radiation.

Great Blueprint

Approved by the Guangzhou Municipal Government, the Guideline for General Strategic Planning of Guangzhou City Development (Abbr. the Guideline), which depicting the blueprint of the following 20 years' ecological development of Guangzhou is now been fully implemented. Mr. Gao Dianying, deputy director of the Development Planning Commission of Guangzhou Municipality briefed the reporter on the relevant content of the Guideline.

● General Plan: the idea of "mountain, city, farmland and sea"

Guangzhou is to fulfill the development strategy of " exploitation in the south, optimization in the north, extension in the east and association in the west" in about 20 years. Emphasizing on the natural characteristics of "mountain, city, farmland and sea", Guangzhou is going to be an ecological city with optimized city layout, rationalized urban and rural structure, and enhanced industrial structure, graceful living environment, leading the other big cities in China to build up a landscape ecological city with developed productivity and solid economic strength, profound culture and perfect harmony between people and the nature. It will possess both natural and cultural landscape with a flavor of the south of the Five Ridges.

● Prospect of Guangzhou: a blueprint of an ecological environment ideal for business and living

The construction of building Guangzhou into an ecological city is divided into 3 phases, including phase I (by 2005), phase II (by 2010) and phase III (by 2020).

The Guideline presents a general description of the content of building Guangzhou into an ecological city, painting a blueprint of an ecological environment, which is adapted for business and living. By 2005, a "landscape city" is to appear. The fundamental ecological planning will be finished and the basic configuration of an ecological city and its communication networks are to be shaped. Afforestation network is to be roundly established and waters are to be cleaned. The construction of the new and the old urban areas will be primarily completed. Before 2010, a garden city will be basically built up: ecological zones are to be constructed in the round, the quality of the city's ecological and living environment are to be enhanced by leaps and bounds. Numbers of horticultural plazas will be built, and with clear functional subarea, a landscape consists of ecological scenery and the architectural ensemble with the "South Ridges" flavor is coming into being.

By 2020, Guangzhou as a whole will become an international ecological city with a territorially "South Ridges" flavor which combines the splendent art of the eastern and western architecture and the poetry connotation: the old city, being ecologically reconstructed, will become the most extensively afforested city in China; while the new city and the Greater Nansha will become the central of Guangzhou, for with convenient transportation, they are the new urban areas that fully embodying the meaning of landscape and garden cities.

Powerful Market Stimulating Effects

As the central city of South China and the Pearl River Delta, one of China's top three economic powerhouses, Guangzhou has long played an essential role in stimulating the economic development of the South. With the formation of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Zone, Guangzhou's status as an economic hub will grow and its stimulating effects on economic growth will expand throughout Southeast Asia; this will open up enormous business opportunities for multinational companies operating in Guangzhou.

First-class infrastructure

Guangzhou boasts superior airport, seaport and information ports. It has Baiyun International Airport with advanced functions, Guangzhou Port that ranks among the world’s top ten ports and world-class information exchange hubs that connect Guangzhou with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, the crisscrossing railways, highways and rail rapid transit systems make up modern traffic networks, linking Guangzhou to other places and making Guangzhou the core of the one-hour urban economic circle in the Pearl River Delta.

Powerful business promotion carriers

Guangzhou is the only city at home that accommodates three national-level economic & technological development zones. Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone highlights its construction as a modern, new city area suitable for both business startup and living and a sub-city center in East Guangzhou. At present, the Sino-Singapore Knowledge City is built at an accelerated pace with the purpose of developing into a landmark region demonstrating the knowledge economy in the 21st century and urban image of Guangzhou. Nansha Economic and Technological Development Zone focuses on the construction as “China’s first-class modern and international port economic circle” and “a modern coastal new area suitable for both business and living”. It beefs up effort to develop such intelligent industries as the networks of things, energetically explores the construction of bulk commodity trading centers and South China’s major logistics bases relying on Nansha Bonded Port, and strives to build itself into a world-famous node in cruise tour route. Zengcheng Economic and Technological Development Zone is a state-level development zone newly approved by the State Council with the focus on auto, manufacturing as well as emerging industries. The said three state-level economic and technological development zones will have tremendous attractions to foreign-funded companies, Global 500 companies in particular.

Powerful industrial clusters

Guangzhou is a major industrial base, manufacturing base and service industrial base in China, with complete industrial supporting facilities and clusters. In particular, the three pillar industries, namely auto, petrochemicals and electronic information, have seen the establishment of modern industrial systems. Besides, its tertiary industries like finance, wholesale & retail, logistics, exhibition and tourism are developed, too. The modern industrial system, in which modern service industries take the dominant position, high-tech industries serve as the engine, advanced manufacturing develops at an accelerated pace and competitive traditional industries upgrade, is taking shape.

Guangzhou has appraised as the "national base for auto and parts export", "national electronic information industrial base", "national pharmaceuticals export base", "national bio-industrial base", "national software industrial base", "national online animation industrial base", "national software export innovation base", "national base for new materials for environmental protection under the Torch Plan", "national high-tech industrial base for the IT industry", "national high-tech industrial base for the new material industry" and "China's service outsourcing base city (demonstration city)", etc.

A huge consumer market

Guangzhou is a huger consumer market, boasting 364.8 billion yuan of citywide retail sales of consumer goods in 2009 and directly leading the consumption concepts and fashions of over 40 million relatively affluent groups in the Pearl River Delta.

The people flow, material flow and capital flow diverted by the Asian Games 2010 to Guangzhou surely will lead to the further flourishing of local consumer market. Meanwhile, Guangzhou will lead the consumption in the high-speed railway era through innovative consumption modes, and give better play to its role as China's central city in "resource gathering and distribution" so as to become the consumption center of South China and influence Central China.

Plentiful Foreign Trade Wholesale Markets

Guangzhou has built a wholesale market system with complete functions covering the entire nation and is linked to the international marketplace. In 2006, the city was home to 586 wholesale markets including 115 sizable ones.

Its wholesale markets for aquatic products, audiovisuals, tea, leather products, textiles and garments, hotel supplies, cosmetics, auto accessories, IT products, toys and gifts and others are among the largest ones of their kinds in China. "Guangzhou prices", which have a considerable influence on the industries serving these markets, are typified by the Guangzhou Anhuamei Expo City, the Guangdong Audiovisual City, Huangsha Aquatic Products Wholesale Market, the Baima Garment Market, the South Tea Market, the Shiling Leather Products City, the Guangdong Yuzhou International Building Materials Market, the Guangdong Tianjiian International Home Furnishings Materials Market, and Pacific Computer City all enjoy considerable name recognition in China and Southeast Asia.

Fair legal environment

Guangzhou offers complete legal systems, fair legal environment and standardized market management as well as trade remedy systems that coincide with the WTO rules. Guangzhou attaches great importance to intellectual property rights protection both for companies and individuals, vigorously cracks down on copyright infringement and safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors.

Guangzhou initiated the interpretation meeting for laws and regulations in 1999, which is held at least once a quarter and has so far been successfully launched for more than 40 sessions with more than 10,000 participating companies and 20,000 attendees. That effectively improved the software investment environment in Guangzhou.

Convenient government affairs service

Guangzhou highlights the construction of a service-oriented government that is honest, diligent, pragmatic and efficient. The municipal government affairs service center, governments at all levels and government portal websites offer both the public and companies convenience services of various sorts. By accelerating the construction of e-governments and improving “one-stop” services, it provides foreign investors with quality and efficient services.

All the above help Guangzhou draw more attention from Global 500 companies.

Rich talent resources

Guangzhou has 76 common schools of higher learning, nearly 800,000 on-campus students, 200 independent R&D institutes, 1.8 million talents with junior college education and above, 1.9 million technicians, 20,000 returned Chinese students and 800,000 on-campus college students.

In Guangzhou, some 24,000 people out of every 100,000 population have secondary school/junior college education or above (including on-campus college students), ranking the first among China’s provincial cities; About 150,000 people get master’s degrees or above, and 140,000 people have senior professional technical titles or above. Guangzhou has also drawn a large number of talents both from home and abroad and can fully satisfy the needs of different companies for talents at varied levels.

Environmental Protection

Guangzhou won the "Nations in Bloom" award in 2001 and the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment in 2002. Guangzhou gives a high priority to environmental protection and has drawn up a series of provisions and standards in accordance with national and provincial environmental laws and regulations. The city institutes a rigorous review and approval system for all aspects of construction projects which suggest that they may cause pollution and has implemented a licensing regime for discharge of water and air pollutants.