Guangdong has seen a robust economic growth in the first five months of this year, with the year-on-year growth rate of main indicators such as consumption, fixed assets investment, import and export volume all exceeded 20%, according to the data released by the Statistics Bureau of Guangdong on June 21.

(Graphic: Mia)

Data shows that from January to May, investment in new infrastructure and manufacturing sectors have also increased greatly. For instance, investment in Internet and related services increased by 218.5% year-on-year, with an average growth of 62.9% in recent two years. Investment in advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing increased by 31.3% and 24.2%, respectively.

"People are optimistic about the investment prospects of Guangdong's advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing. They believe that these two manufacturing areas show the future development direction of the Greater Bay Area," said Professor Lin Jiang of Sun Yat-sen University.

As for the province's foreign trade development, its import and export volume reached 3.15 trillion yuan (484.62 billion USD) in the first five months, up 27.1% year-on-year. And the figure represents 21.3% of China's total.

According to Professor Lin, the robust increase of import and export indicates that Guangdong still has the resilience to achieve economic growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. And it will keep attracting orders from those countries which are currently affected by the pandemic.

Therefore, foreign trade is proving to be a driving force for Guangdong's economic recovery and further development.

Author: Will

Editor: Wing, Jerry