Business Environment in Guangzhou

Located in the southeastern part of Guangdong Province and the northern part of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhouis close to the South China Sea and adjacent to Hong Kongand Macao. As the capital city of Guangdong Province and the central city in the South China, it serves as the political, economic and cultural center of the Province. There are ten districts (Yuexiu, Haizhu, Liwan, Tianhe, Baiyun, Huangpu, Huadu, Panyu, Nansha and Luogang) and two county-level cities (Conghua and Zengcheng) under its jurisdiction. The city covers an area of 7434.4 sq. km. with a registeredpopulation of 7.5053 million and permanent population of over 10 million by the end of 2006. As the starting point of the Marine Silk Route, Guangzhouhas long been an important port of foreign trade in Chinawith a unique geographic advantage connecting China to the rest of the world. Since China’s reform and opening up to the outside world, its economy has maintained a rapid growth, with its comprehensive economic strength ranking the third among the big cities in China. In 2006, the GDP reached RMB 606.841 billion yuan while the GDP per capita of permanent population amounted to US$ 7800.