Guangzhou is the provincial capital of Guangdong Province, and the National historical and cultural city. It is also one of China's important center cities, an international trade and business center as well as an integrated transportation hub. Located in South China, on the northern edge of the Pearl River Delta, it borders the South China Sea, and adjoins Hong Kong and Macao. Guangzhou covers a total area of 7434.4 square kilometers, with a residential population of 14 million. 

In 2017, Guangzhou's GDP reached RMB 2.15 trillion yuan, an increase of 8% from the previous year, and a per capita GDP exceeding 20,000 U.S. dollars. The United Nation’s report of World Urbanization Prospect ranked Guangzhou as the fastest-growing megacity in the world. 

Founded in 214 BC, Guangzhou has a history of more than 2,230 200 years. It is the birthplace of the ancient Maritime Silk Road. As China's oldest and the only foreign trade port that has never been closed, Guangzhou enjoys the reputation of "Millennium Commercial Center”. 

Today's Guangzhou, inheriting the city spirit of openness and innovation for thousand years, captures the attention of investors from around the world. Over 220 countries and regions maintain trading ties with Guangzhou. China's No.1 Exhibition, the China Import & Export Commodities Fair (Canton Fair), held twice a year in Guangzhou since 1957, has become the window and logo of China’s opening up to the outside world. Currently, tens of thousands of foreign companies and hundreds of thousands of domestic ones invest in Guangzhou, including 297 enterprises listed on Fortune 500. 

Guangzhou boasts the congenial environment and pleasant climate, with flowers blooming like pieces of brocade all year round, earning its well-known name the City of Flowers. It has an average annual temperature of 22.2℃, annual average precipitation of over 1800 millimeters and forest coverage up to 42%. The river system in the territory is well-developed with vast water area, which constitutes a unique water-town landscape culture of Lingnan.

I. A City of Commerce 

Since the reform and opening-up, with its favorable investment environment and huge market opportunities, Guangzhou is home to investors from 130 countries and regions. 297 of Fortune 500 enterprises have established 921 projects here, mostly focusing on the pillar manufacturing and modern service industries, which has made important contribution to the shaping of modern industrial system in Guangzhou. 

In recent years, Guangzhou has prioritized its future development in introducing a large number of innovative and hub-type backbone projects, shaping a new industrial chain, in particular, in the fields of new generation information technology, artificial intelligence, bio-pharmaceutical, new energy and new material. For instance, Foxconn 10.5th Generation Display Eco-industrial Park and Cisco Smart City is enabling a gradual breakthrough of the electronic information technology industry in Guangzhou. The establishment of General Electric Bio-industrial Park will enhance the great-leap-forward development of Guangzhou’s bio-pharmaceutical industry. The set-up of COSCO Shipping Bulk Co., Ltd. Headquarters and China Eastern Airlines Guangdong Base have given a strong boost to the construction of Guangzhou seaport and airport. 

Meanwhile, as an important central city of China, Guangzhou has strong capacity in resource allocation, clustering, and diffusion, attracting an impressive array of headquarters enterprises. To name but a few, the global headquarters of Fortune 500 enterprises, including China Southern Power Grid and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd., regional headquarters of the Fortune 500 like the Greater China headquarters of Procter and Gamble, and the China headquarters of the Allianz China General Insurance Company Ltd., as well as functional headquarters such as SINOMACH Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd and Wanda Sports global headquarters. This showcases the strong appeal of Guangzhou for top-notch entities.

II. A Hub Network Connecting with the World 

Guangzhou is one of the most important transportation hubs in China and is closely connected with the rest of the world through well-developed ports, airports, railways, highways and information networks. 

-- Seaports. Guangzhou Port, one of the most important for foreign trade, serves as the thoroughfare to the sea in Pan-Pearl River Delta region. It provides shipping access to more than 400 ports in over 100 countries and regions around the world. In 2017, the Port recorded a cargo throughput of 590 million tons, and container throughput of 20.35 million TEUs. 

-- Airports. Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is one of the three major international hubs in China, as well as one of the busiest airports in Asia and even the world. By the end of 2017, the Airport’s route network has covered more than 200 aviation sites worldwide. The airport passenger throughput reached 65.8 million in 2017. The new Terminal 2, upon its coming into service in April 2018, is expected handle 620,000 flights, 80 million passengers and 2.5 million tons of freight per year. 

---Road and railway transport. Guangzhou is one of China's four railway hubs. It is the starting point of trains to Beijing, Shenzhen, Maoming, Zhuhai. The high-speed trains departing from the City may reach Beijing, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Guizhou and Nanning within hours. The railway network handled 143 million passengers and 48.84 million tons of goods in 2016. At the same time, Guangzhou is also the main hub of the National highway, radiating to dozens of highways, national and provincial roads throughout the country, which enabled easy traveling of 913 million passengers and 764 million tons of good in 2016. 

--- Information hub. Guangzhou is one of China's three major communication hubs, Internet Exchange Centers and international internet gateways. The City undertakes over 2000G bandwidth international outlet, the biggest in mainland China. Its international electronic circuit group connects more than 70 countries and regions, shaping essentially a network of global access.

III. Convenient Government Service 

Guangzhou vigorously optimizes government services by streamlining administration and delegating power under proper supervision. Its government has strived to reform its commercial system and administrative licensing system for the purpose of reducing market access threshold, and constantly stimulating market vitality. 

--- Reduction of pre-approval examination procedures for industrial and commercial registration. The city’s pre-approval examination procedures for industrial and commercial registration have been reduced from 127 items to the current 11 items, a reduction of more than 90%. 

---Reform to change the issuing of multiple certificates into “one license and one social credit code”. One application is required only one submission of one set of material at one service window, reducing the time period from over 20 working days for "five certificates" to the current three working days for “one license”. 

--- Reduction of time limit for commercial registration and record’s filing. Applications missing non-essential documentation may also be approved subject to its subsequent submission afterwards. The entire process for registration takes only three working days, while set-up registration and approval can be done within one day. Eight categories of simple registration procedures such as license changing and record filing may be approved on the spot, indicating a ratio 88% of improvement. 

--- Comprehensive implementation of international trade Single Window and Customs Clearance Integration. Under the Version 2.0 of international trade Single Window, customs clearance fees and costs have been exempted; Border inspection, maritime and port declaration has been done via the Single Window. Customs declaration can now be redeemed via one submission at single platform under one standard. Port agencies work closely together to make it possible for one clearance after a single declaration via one-site access only. Guangzhou is the first in the country to initiate a series of symbolic innovative reforms, such as the Internet Plus Easier Customs Clearance, government purchase of inspection service, Smart Inspection Port, and V2.0 Global Quality Backtrack System for imports and exports. 

--- Reduction of institutional transaction cost. Multiple steps have been taken to clean up and regulate collection of administrative fees and charges for government funds. Ninety-three kinds of economic entities related administrative fees and charges have been cancelled or terminated. More taxpayers are eligible to the remission of or exempt from parts of government funds and education sur-charge. As a result, overall cost of labour, pipeline gas, logistics, as well as electricity used for industrial and commercial purposes and land use has been substantially reduced.

IV. Rich Talent Resource 

Guangzhou is the education center of South China. The City treasures its 3.26 million of talents with a college degree or above. In addition, 6 Nobel Prize winners, 79 academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 281 experts of the Thousand-Talent Program of the central government. 

In 2016, Guangzhou initiated a project to accelerate the gathering of industrial leading talents with a series of supporting policy. Every year starting from 2016, 500 leading innovative and entrepreneurial talents and their team members, 1000 high-end industrial talents, as well as 2000 urgently-needed industrial talents have been supported with funds and other preferential terms. Each leading innovative and entrepreneurship talents is offered with RMB 3 million yuan as project fund, as well as a combination of equity grants and free funding portfolio worth of 30 million yuan for project funding, loan discount, risk compensation for first purchase, etc.. Outstanding industry talents may be offered RMB 5 million yuan award as remuneration subsidy. High-end industry talents and urgently-needed talents will be granted up to RMB 1.5 million yuan based on their contribution to the development of Guangzhou in the previous year. Subsidies will also be provided for workplace rent. A talent green card system will put in place so that industrial leading talents who are not permanent residents are eligible to the same treatment as local citizens in house and vehicle purchasing, as well as children’s schooling. As for the industrial leading talents of foreign nationals, they will be provided with easy access to entry and residence. Those talent green cards holders may apply for up to 5-year long-term residence permit.

V. Sound Innovation Environment 

Guangzhou vigorously promotes the construction of National Central City of Innovation with strong policy support. It has promulgated a series of scientific and technological innovation policies named as “1 plus 9”, covering a different areas, such as transformation of scientific and technological achievements, introduction of and incentives for talents, and finance for science and technology, etc.. A comprehensive policy system supporting innovation and entrepreneurship is formed. Among these policies, some are innovative and are leading policies in China, such as the enterprise research and development investment subsidies, support for new research and development institutions, support given to enterprises to establish research and development institutions, science and technology financial subsidies, and support for new high-tech enterprises and start-up maker space. 

Guangzhou has strong innovative research capability, hosting 232 national and provincial key laboratories. Enterprises have play increasingly important role in innovation. There have been 8700 high-tech enterprises in operation by the end of 2017. Platforms for technological incubation have gradually formed into a network. Incubators hatch a total area of 9.09 million square meters, nursing over 12,000 incubation enterprises (projects). 

Guangzhou firmly commits itself to protecting intellectual property rights (IPR). It has continued its efforts in promoting the application and transformation of IPR, creating and publishing Guangzhou Index for China Intellectual Property, constructing national and provincial pilot agglomeration zones of IP service industry. Guangzhou is home to the Guangdong Center for Patent Review Cooperation of the State Intellectual Property Office, Guangzhou Intellectual Property Court, Guangzhou Intellectual Property Exchange Center, Guangzhou Intellectual Property Talents Base, and a group of other intellectual property projects.