South China’s Guangdong Province recorded 8 per cent GDP growth in 2021 to RMB 12.4 trillion (about US$1.95 trillion), its acting governor Wang Weizhong has said.
Dongguan has become the fourth city in Guangdong, whose economic aggregates exceeded one trillion yuan, following Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan, Wang said while delivering a government report last week at the annual session of the provincial legislature.
The province’s foreign trade surpassed RMB 8 trillion in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 per cent, according to the report.
The number also carries global significance, as Guangdong’s GDP is now larger than that of 90 per cent of the countries around the world, including Spain and Australia, and it is equivalent to that of Canada and Russia.
Guangdong, a manufacturing heartland and leading foreign trade player in the country, has strengthened its strategy of science and technology and reinforced the foundation of high-quality economic development, according to the report.
The province is targeting an economic growth of about 5.5 per cent this year, Wang said.
The growth rate is slightly lower than the 8.1 per cent level for the whole Chinese economy in 2021, underscoring the challenges for the major manufacturing, export and economic powerhouse, including sporadic Covid-19 outbreaks and power shortages.
Despite the challenges, Guangdong performed well in its major growth drivers, including trade. The province’s foreign trade surpassed RMB 8 trillion in 2021, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 per cent, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
