2025 marks the third year of Guangdong's "High-quality Development Project for Counties, Towns, and Villages," and also the final year of China's 14th Five-Year Plan, making it a crucial moment for the province's push toward more balanced and inclusive growth.
Launched in December 2022, the initiative aims to narrow regional disparities, advance rural revitalization, and cultivate new growth engines across Guangdong.
Since 2023, economic growth in all 57 counties and county-level cities, primarily in eastern, western, and northern Guangdong, has outpaced the provincial average for two consecutive years. The urban-rural income ratio has narrowed from 2.41 in 2022 to 2.31 in 2024.
(Rural Infrastructure Development)
Infrastructure upgrades and public services have also been enhanced in this process. County seats across the province are now generally within 20 minutes of expressway access. A total of 155 senior high schools in the Pearl River Delta have been paired to support 227 county-level schools, while 104 top-tier provincial hospitals have been paired to assist 172 county hospitals. All 19,382 administrative villages now have full 5G coverage. Approximately 165,000 rural homes have undergone quality upgrades, and the rural wastewater treatment rate in natural villages has risen to over 90 percent.
On the industrial front, Guangdong has accelerated the development of county-level industries that strengthen local economies and increase residents' incomes.
The province has established 64 provincial-level industrial parks and 13 provincial-level characteristic industrial parks across the 57 counties and cities. Across 15 major platforms for orderly industrial transfer, the total output value of industries above designated size has exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan, with more than 2,200 new projects undertaken and planned investment exceeding 720 billion yuan.
Guangdong has fostered eight trillion-yuan-level agricultural industry clusters, covering sectors such as grain and vegetables, alongside 17 hundred-billion-yuan clusters in areas including tea and flowers. The province also created 51 key towns and villages for rural tourism nationwide, 72 beautiful leisure villages, and 365 provincial characteristic villages. Meanwhile, Guangdong's marine economy output exceeded 2 trillion yuan in 2024, ranking first in China for 30 consecutive years.
Reporter | Dai Bosi
Poster Text | Dai Bosi, Guo Chuhua
Poster | Lai Meiya
Editor | Hu Nan, James Campion, Shen He
