Guangdong reported a robust 8.2% year-on-year increase in actual utilized foreign investment for the first seven months of 2025, reaching RMB 65.67 billion, leading the growth rate among all major eastern provinces in the country, according to a release from the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province on August 28.
The achievements underscore the region's strong appeal to global investors.
From January to July 2025, the province approved the establishment of 17,000 new foreign-invested enterprises, a surge of 32.7% compared to the same period last year. In July alone, actual utilized foreign capital reached RMB 7.08 billion, up 31.2% year-on-year.
The manufacturing sector led the expansion with remarkable momentum.
Actual utilized foreign investment in manufacturing totaled RMB 19.09 billion, growing by 17.4% and accounting for 29.1% of the province's total.
Key industries such as electronic information, green petrochemicals, and specialized equipment manufacturing saw increases of 24.7%, 67.1%, and 292.3%, respectively.
The services sector also remained stable, attracting RMB 43.43 billion in actual utilized foreign investment, a rise of 2.7%.
Hong Kong remained the largest source of investment in Guangdong, contributing RMB 46.51 billion, up 22.4% and representing 70.8% of Guangdong’s total.
Investment from Macao reached RMB 2.18 billion, an increase of 10.6%.
European investment grew by 18.3%, with notably strong performances from the EU (up 29.6%) and France (up 171.9%).
The cities within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) continued to drive provincial growth.
The nine mainland cities in the GBA utilized RMB 60.9 billion in foreign investment, a 13% increase that accounted for 92.7% of the provincial total.
Major cities including Shenzhen recorded positive growth, while Jiangmen, Foshan, and Zhongshan saw impressive expansions of 321.7%, 52%, and 16.1%, respectively.
Meanwhile, several cities in Eastern, Western, and Northern Guangdong, such as Meizhou, Shantou, Shaoguan, and Maoming, achieved at least a doubling of utilized foreign capital.
Large-scale projects played a significant role, with 20 projects each attracting over USD 100 million in actual investment—five more than in the same period last year. These projects brought in a total of USD 3.86 billion in foreign capital.
Reporter | Huang Xinyi
Photo | Nanfang Plus
Editor | Hu Nan, James Campion, Shen He
