Han Ximin

1824295095@qq.com

GUANGDONG has spent 750 billion yuan (US$108.64 billion) in the last five years for the construction of its environmental facilities and pollution treatment in an effort to construct Beautiful Guangdong and improve the ecological environment.

Guangdong’s air quality had met its goals for seven straight years and eliminated 527 blackened, stinky and polluted rivers and lakes in urban areas. The whole province’s forest coverage has reached 58.7%, according to a news conference held Wednesday by the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the CPC in Guangzhou over its development in the past decade.

“Over the decade, Guangdong GDP has increased from 5.7 trillion yuan in 2012 to 12.4 trillion yuan in 2021, ranking first among Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities for 33 straight years,” Governor Wang Weizhong said at the news conference.

Guangdong was commissioned to carry out duties of major State strategies like building the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), Shenzhen demonstration area, Qianhai and Hengqin cooperation zones, and the pinnacle for high-end professionals in the GBA.

In 2021, Guangdong’s trade exceeded 8 trillion yuan, taking the lead in China for 36 straight years. Its industrial value of enterprises above designated scaled reached 4.5 trillion yuan, accounting for one-eighth of the country’s total. Its regional innovative competitiveness also took the lead in the country for five straight years.

The wealth disparity between urban and rural areas had been narrowed down, thanks to regional coordinated development and the pushing forward of all-rounded urban rejuvenation. Guangdong’s high-speed railway has connected all 21 prefectures, and its expressways linked all counties. Income growth in rural areas has exceeded its urban counterpart for 10 straight years, and rural residents’ average income reached 22,000 yuan in 2021. The rural-urban disparity ratio has been narrowed down to 1:2.46.

Seventy percent of Guangdong’s expenditure has been spent on improving the lives of its residents. Its employed population reached 70.72 million, accounting for one-10th of the country. Its residents’ per capita dispensable income reached 45,000 yuan in 2021.