Guangdong

Guangdong, previously romanized as Kwangtung or Canton, is a coastal province located in South China, on the north shore of the South China Sea. The provincial capital is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.84 million (as of 2021) across a total area of about 179,800 km2 (69,400 sq mi), Guangdong is the most populous province of China and the 15th-largest by area as well as the third-most populous country subdivision in the world.

Guangdong’s economy is currently the largest of any provincial-level division in China, with a GDP of 13.57 trillion RMB ($1.9 trillion in GDP nominal) in 2023, contributing approximately 10.6% of the total economic output of mainland China. It has a diversified economy, and was known as the starting point of the Maritime Silk Road of ancient China.[9] It is home to the production facilities and offices of a wide-ranging set of Chinese and foreign corporations. Guangdong has benefited from its proximity to the financial hub of Hong Kong, which it borders to the south. Guangdong also hosts the largest import and export fair in China, the Canton Fair, hosted in the provincial capital of Guangzhou. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, a Chinese megalopolis, is a core for high technology, manufacturing and foreign trade. Located in this zone are two of the four top Chinese cities and the top two Chinese prefecture-level cities by GDP; Guangzhou, and Shenzhen, the first special economic zone in the country. These two are among the most populous and important cities in China, and have now become two of the world’s most populous megacities and leading financial centres in the Asia-Pacific region.