Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong Province,
is also known as Yangcheng and Flower City. It is a sub
provincial city, a national central city, a megacity, a core city in Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and an important central city, international trade
center and comprehensive transportation hub in China approved by the State
Council. The city governs 11 districts with a total area of 7434.40 square
kilometers. In 2020, the permanent resident population of Guangzhou was 18,676,605.
Guangzhou is located in the south of China,the pearl river downstream, near
the south China sea. It is the headquarters of the China Southern Theater
Command, the national logistics hub, the national comprehensive
gateway city, the international comprehensive transport hub, one of the first
coastal open cities, the gateway to the world, the central city of Guangdong-Hong
Kong-Macao Greater Bay
Area,
the central city of the Pan-pearl
River Delta Economic Zone and the hub city of Belt and Road.
Guangzhou is one of the first national famous
historical and cultural cities and the birthplace of Guangfu culture. Since the
Qin Dynasty, Guangzhou has been the seat of county, prefecture and government,
and the political, military, economic, cultural, scientific and educational
center of South China. Since the third century AD, it has become the main port
of the maritime Silk Road. In the Tang and Song Dynasties, it became the
largest port in China and the world-famous Oriental port city. In the Ming and
Qing Dynasties, it was the only foreign trade port in China and the only port
in the world that has been prosperous for more than 2000 years.
Guangzhou
has been rated as the world's first-tier city by the global authority, GaWC.
The annual China Import and Export Commodities Fair attracts a large number of
merchants, foreign-funded enterprises and the world's top 500 enterprises. In 2017, it ranked second in the
Forbes List of Best Business Cities in Mainland China, ranked third in China's
top 100 cities. In 2018, Guangzhou ranked first in The Human Development Index and third
in the National Central City Index. By 2019, the total number of college
students in Guangzhou had reached 1,139,600, ranking first in the country.
In 2020, Guangzhou achieved a regional GDP of
2501.911 billion yuan.
