December 29 2023

Guangdong establishes five city clusters to bolster development

Guangdong's provincial government has delineated five city clusters — Guangzhou, Shenzhen, the west coast of the Pearl River Estuary, Shanchaojie and Zhanmao — which will help the province achieve high-quality development.

Ai Xuefeng, director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, said urbanization is the inevitable path of modernization, and cultivating these clusters or "megacities" is an important means to promoting high-quality development in the province.

He added that the urbanization rate of the permanent population in Guangdong neared 75 percent last year, entering a mature and stable stage of urbanization.

"After years of development, Guangdong now has the conditions, foundation and necessity to accelerate the cultivation and development of megacities to further optimize the spatial pattern of the population and economy, and to enhance the endogenous power of the Pearl River Delta, Beibu Gulf and the coastal urban clusters in Guangdong, Fujian and Zhejiang provinces," Ai said.

"It will help form new advantages for regional development and provide strong support for Guangdong to continue to take the lead in promoting the Chinese path to modernization in the country."

Guangzhou is slated to become the main engine for high-quality development of the province, a global production base, a national demonstration zone for high-quality urbanization and a model area for the integration of manufacturing and service industries.

By 2030, the comprehensive strength of the Guangzhou megacity, which includes the provincial capital as well as Foshan and parts of Zhaoqing and Qingyuan, will be significantly enhanced, with an urbanization rate of 88 percent for permanent residents.

According to official statistics, the permanent population of the five megacities in Guangdong reached 108 million last year, accounting for 85.4 percent of the province's total. The disposable income of residents reached 5.8 trillion yuan, representing more than 90 percent of the province's total. The province, with a population of more than 127 million, is the country's most populous region and an economic powerhouse.