The rise of China's DeepSeek has sent shockwaves through the AI world. The open-source reasoning model is believed to have outperformed even the best from the US.

What exactly is "high-quality development"? And why does it matter so much for Guangdong that it has warranted such in-depth discussion for three consecutive years? This episode of China Xplained will find out.

On February 5, Guangdong held a provincial high-quality development conference and released the 2025 action plan for building a modern industrial system.

The Provincial High-quality Development Conference was held in Guangdong on February 5, the first working day after the Chinese New Year holiday. The event focused on building a modern industrial system with greater international competitiveness to drive further high-quality development.

Despite changes and challenges in 2024, Guangdong province, a leading economic region in China, saw its foreign trade volume exceed 9 trillion yuan and reach a new high, maintaining its top position in the nation for 39 consecutive years.

On the afternoon of February 5, a key sub-forum of Guangdong's Provincial High-Quality Development Conference brought together government officials, experts, and industry leaders to assess the progress of the "Hundreds, Thousands, and Tens of Thousands Project." Launched two years ago, the initiative aims to drive rural revitalization, foster county-level economic growth, and promote balanced regional development across the province.