Approved by the State Council, Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin and Chongqing will take the lead in developing international consumption center cities and also the national center cities, of which Guangzhou is the only provincial city.
Developing international consumption center cities is a key strategic measure to implement the decision of the fifth Plenary Session of the 19th Central Committee to deliver the new development philosophy, establish the new development paradigm and promote high-quality development at the new stage of development. It also implies the critical role of Guangzhou in adding new vitality to the old city, stepping up efforts in boosting comprehensive urban functions, strengthening comprehensive cultural power, prospering modern service industry, and fostering a modern international business environment as a national central city, an international business center and the key vehicle of development in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Dubbed the only business city in he world thriving for nearly a millennium, Guangzhou boasts profound trade background, convenient transportation, strong industrial support and a huge market. During the implementation of the14th Five-year Plan, Guangzhou will continue to contribute to the new development paradigm with its service sector, marching toward a node in the domestic circulation and a strategic link in the dual circulation.
As part of the efforts to reach the goal, Nanfang Daily and Nanfang+ have released serial reports titled “New Paradigm & New Opportunities: Views of Guangzhou Moving Toward International Consumption Central City”, guiding the city’s transformation into an world-class metropolis under the standards of international reputation, prosperity, business activity, transportation convenience and consumer comfort index (CCI). The coverage also contributes to the development scheme by highlighting the strengths, opportunities, and prospects of Guangzhou. Please stay tuned.
Guangzhou is in partnership with hometown of Friedrich Engels.
On August 18, Guangzhou signed a memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation with Wuppertal, a German city and hometown of Friedrich Engels, marking the countdown of completion of Guangzhou’s plan to foster partnership with a hundred cities around the world.
In Yong Qing Fang, tourists from all over the world shuttled through Mashi Street and red-brick folk residence, experiencing both the old and new Lingnan culture. On Haixin Bridge, the city's new landmark of high-tech and aesthetics, citizens strolled and wandered to enjoy the scenery of Zhujiang New Town CBD and the Canton Tower.
Here, traditional traditional streets and alleys are open to the trendy culture, and modern buildings demonstrate the beauty of Lingnan culture. Several thousand of years witnessed how the city has grown inclusive, thus qualified for an international metropolis in terms of profoundness and strength.
The past lays the foundation for the new journey ahead.
Selected as one of the first international consumption central cities, how is Guangzhou going global?
The answer may be the increasing international exposure, Fortune Global Top 500 multinationals settled here and mounting foreign personnel pursing dreams in Guangzhou.
Guangzhou, a world-famous city for 2,000 years
Over two thousand years ago, Guangzhou opened the door to the world.
Merchant ships loaded with silk, tea, porcelain and other goods sailed from Guangzhou to all parts of the world along the ancient Maritime Silk Road. Developed maritime trade brought by the cruises rendered Guangzhou the material richness, combined with overseas civilizations from across the ocean.
As Guangzhou, one of the most interested region among businessmen, opens wider to the world, its former name Canton was once regarded as the synonym of the global trade center by westerners for long.
In the old days, the American merchant cruise Empress of China opened the door of Guangzhou to the world as it reached Huangpu Port via the Pearl River, and traveling traders from across the globe entered the Canton Fair pavilion in Pazhou, which served as a window for China to connect with the outside world.
Amid the widening opening up, historical sites scattered in the streets have composed a museum of Guangzhou’s business culture, witnessing the city’s growth into the international trade center, Lingnan cultural center and foreign exchange center with its outstanding charm.
Rated as one of the most developed, most vibrant and most opened city in China, Guangzhou registers irreplaceable core competitiveness to authoritative research institutions evaluating global cities.
In the List of Global Cities by World Rank 2020 released by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC), Guangzhou is categorized into the Alpha (first-tier) group, and keeps climbing up on the ladder. In the Comprehensive City Ranking 2020 by A.T.Kearney, a world-famous management consultancy, Guangzhou has jumped to the 63rd from the 71st in 2019.
In the 29th Global Financial Centers Index, co-released by Z/Yen in the UK and China Development Institute (CDI) in March this year, Guangzhou ranked 22nd among all global financial cities. The rank is the most widely used and authoritative evaluation system for financial centers.
Chinese Cities of Opportunity 2021 published by PwC and China Development Research Foundation shows that Guangzhou is the fourth central cities and nodes by comprehensive factors nationwide. Specifically, Guangzhou won the first place in terms of intellectual capital and innovation. Jin Jun, partner of Consulting Division in PwC China, once noted that Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen have grown into above-first-tier cities either by scale or development quality. “These four cities can now rival with global counterparts, and they demonstrate the typical urban agglomeration.”
Besides joining the Alpha group for many years, it also ranked the 18th global competitive cities according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, housing 66 consulates general, the number of which is the nation’s third largest, in addition to 89 international friendship cities and 53 international friendship ports.
The rising ranks in global cities and the excellent performance in detailed fields all indicate the leapfrog in the comprehensive capacities, urban modernization and influence to neighboring areas, as well as the interntional fame.
Guangzhou's connections with Global Top 500 spanning five continents
From the birth of the first batch of Head & Shoulders shampoos produced in China to the launch of the Greater China Smart Technologies Innovation Center, the Global Top 500 P&G has turned a new leaf in gaining access to the Chinese market in Guangzhou.
Ma Ruisi, chairman and president of P&G Greater China said, “Our 33 years of development and achievements prove that the decision to invest and develop in Guangzhou is quite right.”
The settlement of multinational enterprises represents the choice of the global market. P&G, Amway, Lonza, AstraZeneca... Multinational enterprises across five continents and many of the world's top 500 businesses have all gathered here in Guangzhou. They have integrated into the city as they boost the economic growth, industrial transformation and opening up of Guangzhou with their own development.
And they have never stopped doing so even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the beginning of this year, the construction of Hyundai Motor Group's production and sales base for hydrogen fuel cell system in Guangzhou was officially started. It is the first overseas production and sales base of hydrogen fuel cell system set by Hyundai, a Fortune Global 500 company, and also China's first large-scale factory specializing in hydrogen fuel cell system.
Zheng Yixuan, chairman of Hyundai addressed, “The group will take the base as a beginning to make full use of our world-leading hydrogen energy technologies, business applications and expertise to cooperation with local partners in Chins for an innovative and clean solution to automobiles.”
Amid the 13th Five-year Plan, the actual use of foreign capital in Guangzhou grew at an average annual rate of 5.6%. In 2020, foreign-funded enterprises in Guangzhou contributed above half of the total industrial output value and added value. In the first five months of this year, 1704 new enterprises in foreign direct investment were established, actually using 25.153 billion yuan of foreign capital.
Now Guangzhou has received investment from 309 Global Top 500 companies and registered a total of 34,000 foreign-invested businesses.
What draws them here and why have they stayed? The answer is that a myriad of Global Top 500 companies have been attracted by Guangzhou’s open market, mature industrial foundation and high-quality business environment.
According to the American Chamber of Commerce in South China released by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, Guangzhou has won the title of the most popular investment destination in China for four consecutive years.
Of the 115 interviewed firms fro the US, Europe, Japan, Korea and other countries, 80% of consider the business environment in Guangzhou excellent or good, and 70% plan to expand in Guangzhou in the next three years.
Among the indicators for assessing world-class cities, the number of the Global Top 500 enterprises and multinational corporations is very important. Multinational corporations used to choose cities, but now cities play more actively and influential in attracting them and allocating global resources.
Therefore, the combination and cooperation of urban layout with the gathering of world leaders can create new tales of wealth.
“We have factories in Guangzhou, and many partners.” said Lin Shiwei, president of Honeywell China, on the recent enterprise forum. “Guangzhou remains to be the key stage for Honeywell to implement development strategies and boost operations in China ranging from aviation materials, high-performance materials and technologies, to solutions in construction technology, security and productivity.”
Guangzhou: a global city taking in global personnel
“My health code is as green as grassland.”Three months ago, Amosov Gennady, a Russian young man quarantined at home in Fangcun Village of Guangzhou for the new round of breakout of pandemic, performed eight original songs on guitar to encourage local residents.
Now more and more foreigners have integrated into the city life here like Gennady, who are known as the foreign Cantonese.
An international talent pool has become a major indicator of an international city. First-rate metropolises like New York, London, Paris, and Tokyo all gather a myriad of specialized personnel.
The foreigners from across the sea play an increasingly vital role in finance, trade, medicare and technology, contributing to the international image of Guangzhou.
Such scenes can be dated back to as early as the Han Dynasty, and the number of foreigners peaked in the Tang Dynasty. The Guangzhou Archaeological Site Museum of Nanyue Palace collects an ivory seal of a foreigner’s portrait in the Tang Dynasty, witnessing the flourishing international trade in Guangzhou from the past to date.
Guangzhou has been one of the most popular Chinese cities among foreigners since ancient times.
In 2020, a vote of the most attractive Chinese city to foreigners held last year shows that Guangzhou ranked the fifth and has been listed for eight times. Besides, a list of the most attractive Chinese to overseas and international personnel published by a third-party research institute demonstrates that Guangzhou is a popular destination for both returnees and foreign talents.
Its inclusiveness and diversification connects the city with the world while drawing a growing number of international brains for investment and entrepreneurship. To date, Guangzhou houses a total of 14,200 foreign personnel with valid long-term work permits, ranking the third nationwide.
“Guangzhou sets an example in China ‘s urban development, and provides many vivid practices and cases of economic globalization for us to learn.” noted Prof. Li Dehong, the first foreign academician introduced by GBA from Engineering Department of National University of Singapore. His life in Guangzhou exposes him to the huge potential and opportunities here in artificial intelligence (AI).
Viewed from the global urban system, prestigious international metropolises all serve as strong magnets to keep international brains. In this sense, the soft power represented by the global talent pool is an integral part of Guangzhou’s strength on the basis of hard power such as infrastructure and economy, if it is to be a truly global city.
“By 2023, foreign residents in the demonstration zone will account for around 20%, and by 2030 a first-rate integrative international community consisting of 30% of foreigners will be formulated.” The first demonstration zone in the GBA for livability, business and tourism will be developed in Panyu, and is set to make life more comfortable to foreigners in Guangzhou.
A range of measures have been rolled out to help Guagzhou, the driving force of the GBA, to gather more specialized personnel with intensified efforts and resolve. Major innovation platforms like Guangzhou State Laboratory will be established; talent introduction roadmap will be made; reform pilots such as Nansha International Personnel Special Zone and Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City Free Port for International Talents will be implemented.
Guangzhou, the heart of the GBA, stands close to the world.
First-rate cities by international standards
Another “engine of bay area” across the Pacific Ocean
On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, more than 10,000 kilometers from Guangzhou, sits another "engine of bay area."
Renowned landmarks including Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman's Wharf all concentrate in San Francisco, a city with a area of merely above 600 km2. Regardless of the one-tenth of the size compared to Guangzhou, the city endowed with the favorable location in San Francisco Bay Area has made it into a major global technology R&D base and a crucial financial center in the western coast of the United States.
In the 2020 Global Cities Index published by A.T.Kearney, San Francisco is rated as the 13th world-class city while Guangzhou the 63th in terms of international influence, population size and economic scale. The result indicates a large gap between the two cities despite the progress made by Guangzhou.
For one thing, San Francisco's international competitiveness comes from its own heritage.
As the main population center in the Bay Area for a long time, San Francisco went viral during the California Gold Rush in the mid of 19th century, in which gold diggers from around the world all headed for the city. Consequently, the small city has attracted immigrations of different nations and races including Italians, Brazilians, Spaniards and Chinese, and become a meltpot of global culture.
Such history shapes the diversification and inclusiveness of San Francisco. It is also one of the largest art centers in the United States. The Academy of Art University downtown is the biggest private art university nationwide, fostering a number of talents in art and design to the globe every year. Moreover, the University of California in San Francisco is a globally reputed research and teaching center for life sciences and medicine, further expanding its influence worldwide.
For another, San Francisco's global competitiveness also benefits from the differentiated growth in the Bay Area, where San Francisco is the core city driven by modern service industries like tourism and finance, Oakland is strong in the port economy; and San Jose led by high-tech and biomedicine stays central to the Silicon Valley.
Within the Bay area, the rapid flow of personnel, capital, technology and information forms a good inter-regional industrial coordination. The synergy with other cities in the Bay Area enables San Francisco to give full play to its strengths as an international metropolis.
Such practice covering diversified culture, international urban atmosphere, and the magnificent influence in the Bay Area, are good learning materials for Guangzhou to improve its international image and reputation.
