On May 10, Guangdong introduced a package of 24 integrated measures in five foreign-related fields to further promote high-level opening up in a new era.
Zhang Jinsong, Director General of the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province, said that Guangdong will focus on accelerating the integrated development of the five foreign-related fields - foreign trade, foreign investment, foreign outsourcing, foreign economic cooperation, and overseas talent attraction, so as to take the building of a leading trade player to the next level, establish a new system of higher-level open economy and comprehensively elevate the province’s status in the global industrial chain, supply chain and value chain.
Guangdong will make every effort to stabilize the scale of foreign trade, improve its structure, and boost foreign investment. It will focus on building a batch of export-oriented industrial clusters in electronic information, light textiles, smart home appliances, and new energy storage, with a target of reaching one trillion yuan-level and 100 billion yuan-level clusters.
The province will also further promote the development of cross-border e-commerce and build 20 parks featuring "industrial clusters + cross-border e-commerce," as well as support and strengthen market entities and improve the cross-border logistics system.
In terms of attracting foreign investment, the province will promote the "Invest in Guangdong" brand and continue to hold the Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Conference for Economic and Trade Cooperation between the Pearl River Delta and the Eastern, Western, and Northern Regions of Guangdong Province.
Focusing on the new quality productive forces, it will also conduct manufacturing, headquarter registration and equity investment attraction.
In the first four months of 2024, the province's foreign trade has maintained a strong growth momentum. The latest statistics from the Guangdong Sub-administration of GACC show that Guangdong's total import and export volume reached 2.8 trillion yuan in the January-April period, up 12.3% year-on-year.
In the first quarter, a total of 5,064 newly established foreign-funded companies were recorded in the province, representing a 23.1% increase. The actual utilization of foreign investment registered 35.92 billion yuan.
Last year, Guangdong achieved significant outcomes in promoting high-level openness while implementing integrated measures in the five foreign-related fields. The province's total foreign trade volume reached 8.3 trillion yuan in 2023, up 0.3% year-on-year, maintaining its position as the country's top-ranked province for 38 consecutive years.
Reporter | Fanny
Editor | Steven, Nan, Will, James
