Bay Area achieves progress in five years

Together with the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, Guangdong province has made great efforts to develop the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area into an internationally first-class area and a world-class city cluster over the past five years. In 2023, the Bay Area's GDP is projected to surpass 13.6 trillion yuan ($1.89 trillion), reaching a new level of overall economic development. The GDP of Guangzhou and Shenzhen exceeded 3 trillion yuan respectively, and that of Dongguan and Foshan 1 trillion yuan. The Bay Area's population increased from about 70 million to more than 86 million. Twenty-five companies in the Bay Area also made their way onto the 2023 Fortune Global 500 list, an increase of five compared to 2018.

76m visitors received during Spring Festival

Guangdong received 76.07 million tourists during the just-concluded eight-day Spring Festival holiday, up 68.4 percent year-on-year. The province raked in 69.36 billion yuan ($9.64 billion) in tourism consumption, marking a 160.8 percent year-on-year increase. During the holiday that ran from Feb 10 to Saturday, more than 500 activities were held in more than 260 A-level tourist attractions, provincial-level and above tourist resorts and leisure streets. Additionally, more than 4,600 cultural events took place in cultural centers. During the period, 23.37 million visitors flocked to 4A-rated and above scenic areas throughout Guangdong, an increase of 40.1 percent from 2023.

Guangdong to build airport hub for delta

A new airport, which will serve as a hub of the Pearl River Delta, will begin construction this year in Guangdong province. The airport is initially planned to be located at the junction of Genghe township, Foshan's Gaoming district, and Jiaotang township of Zhaoqing's Gaoyao district, under the recommendation of the Civil Aviation Administration of China. With a planned investment of more than 50 billion yuan ($6.95 billion), it is expected to have two long-distance parallel runways and a third runway reserved for the long term. By 2035, the Bay Area is expected to have seven airports with 17 runways, serving 420 million passengers and handling more than 20 million metric tons of cargo annually.

Overseas e-commerce warehouses booming

Thanks to the incentives for promoting the development of overseas warehouses for cross-border e-commerce, Guangdong has developed more than 1,000 overseas warehouses, covering an area of nearly 6 million square meters, and serving more than 100,000 enterprises. Innovations such as the world's first cross-border sea-air transportation and direct-to-airport model have been initiated, along with cases such as "overseas warehouse plus overseas livestreaming" and "overseas warehouse plus used car exports".

New customs move to start in Hengqin

The Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin will begin to implement closed customs control in the "second-tier" zone as of March. It aims to assist the movement of people, goods, capital and information between Macao and Hengqin. The area between Hengqin and the Macao Special Administrative Region is considered the "first-tier" zone, while the area between Hengqin and other areas within the Chinese mainland is considered the "second-tier "zone. Trade conducted through the first tier will generally be tax-free and have simplified customs declaration procedures. Most goods transported through the second tier will be subject to tariffs and import duties. Certain items, however, may be eligible for an added-value tax exemption.