GUANGZHOU, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) — China’s manufacturing heartland Guangdong Province has set a GDP progress goal of 4.5 p.c to five p.c for 2026, the opening 12 months of the nation’s fifteenth Five-Year Plan, Guangdong Governor Meng Fanli stated Monday, pledging efforts to attain higher ends in precise work.
The goal was set after bearing in mind improvement wants and home and exterior elements, Meng stated whereas delivering a authorities work report on the annual session of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress.
Guangdong’s financial power has continued to develop over the previous 5 years, Meng stated, including that the southern province’s GDP rose to 14.58 trillion yuan (about 2.1 trillion U.S. {dollars}) from 11.37 trillion yuan. The province’s digital economic system remained the most important in China.
Guangdong ranked first nationwide in whole GDP for the thirty seventh consecutive 12 months in 2025, in keeping with the work report.
Last 12 months, Guangdong’s whole imports and exports of products reached 9.5 trillion yuan, up 4.4 p.c 12 months on 12 months and accounting for twenty-four.1 p.c of the nation’s whole enhance. Trade in providers topped 250 billion U.S. {dollars}, rising 12.5 p.c, in keeping with the work report.
Actual use of overseas funding climbed 11.3 p.c to 112.66 billion yuan, whereas the variety of newly established foreign-funded enterprises rose 38.7 p.c to 36,000.
Gong Zhenzhi, director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, stated the province will proceed to increase high-level opening-up, consolidating conventional markets in Europe, the United States, Japan and the Republic of Korea whereas actively tapping rising markets such because the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Middle East and Africa.
Industry will stay the spine of Guangdong’s economic system, in keeping with the report. In 2026, the province will proceed to prioritize the actual economic system and manufacturing, accelerating the event of a stronger fashionable industrial system.
The report stated technological innovation will function a strategic pillar for financial improvement. Guangdong goals to construct a globally influential hub for industrial and technological innovation and speed up the event of latest high quality productive forces in 2026.
Special emphasis shall be positioned on increasing high-level AI functions throughout sectors and deepening the “AI plus” initiative to advertise broader use in public providers and industrial functions.
In 2025, about 10,000 industrial enterprises carried out technological renovation and digital transformation. Output of commercial and repair robots rose 31.2 p.c and 11.2 p.c 12 months on 12 months, accounting for 40 p.c and 80 p.c of the nationwide whole, respectively, in keeping with Gong.
Guangdong additionally superior reforms in low-altitude airspace administration, launching a provincial built-in low-altitude flight administration and repair platform on a trial foundation, whereas unmanned aerial car output jumped 39 p.c, capturing greater than 90 p.c of the nationwide market.
“As a manufacturing company, we have received strong support from the government in our transition,” stated Li Yue, a deputy to the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress and vp of Guangdong Guansheng New Material Co., Ltd.
“We have upgraded our production lines in stages through automation and digitalization, introducing intelligent equipment in key processes. The results were immediate — production efficiency rose by more than 20 percent, unit energy consumption fell by 8 percent, and product consistency improved, giving us the confidence to take on higher-standard orders,” she stated.
“Traditional industries are the ballast of a modern industrial system,” Li stated. “As long as we remain committed to technological innovation, intelligent upgrading and green transformation, we will continue to generate new vitality.”