Zhaoqing, Guangdong province

The city of Zhaoqing [Photo/VCG]

Major social and economic indicators (2018)

Area: 14,891 sq km
Population: 4,115,000
Gross domestic product (GDP): 220.18 billion yuan ($32.85 billion)
GDP per capita: 53,000 yuan
Value of total merchandise trade: 38.99 billion yuan
Value of export: 23.77 billion yuan
Value of import: 15.22 billion yuan
Industrial structure (% of GDP):
Primary industry (agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery): 10.3% of GDP
Secondary Industry (industrial and construction): 51.1% of GDP
Tertiary industry (service industry): 38.6% of GDP
Port cargo throughput: 39.21 million tons
Passenger throughput:
Visitors received: 28.93 million passenger trips

Note: the above figures are provided by relevant Guangdong provincial and municipal government departments.

Overview

Zhaoqing is located in the central-western part of Guangdong province and the middle and lower reaches of the Xijiang River. It adjoins Foshan and Jiangmen on the east and southeast, Yunfu on the southwest, Wuzhou and Hezhou on the west and northwest, and Qingyuan on the north and northeast. Zhaoqing has the largest area among the mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area.

Zhaoqing has splendid mountains and historical scenic spots. The Xinghu Lake Scenic Area is one of the first batches of national key scenic spots, and its provincial-level scenic spots include the Fengkai Lungshan Scenic Area and Huaiji Yanyan Scenic Area. The Dinghu Mountain is one of the "four famous mountains in Guangdong." It is the first nature reserve in China and is listed by UNESCO as an international biosphere reserve.

Industries

Zhaoqing focuses on the development of the industries of new energy vehicles, advanced equipment manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection, high-end new electronic information, and biomedicine. It is also proactively developing three industrial clusters valued over 100 billion yuan on new energy vehicles, advanced equipment manufacturing, energy conservation, and environmental protection.

Zhaoqing is the "home of gold" in Guangdong. The gold mines are mainly in Gaoyao district, Huaiji county, and Fengkai county. Nonmetallic mines include limestones for cement, limestones for flux, gypsum, granite for overcoating, granite for construction, porcelain clay, ink-stone, mineral water, and geothermal water. Inkstone is a unique ornamental stone in Zhaoqing, and "duanyan" ranks first among the four famous inkstones in China. In 2004, Zhaoqing was named the "capital of inkstones in China."

Transport

Zhaoqing has well-developed transportation networks. It has eight external ports. The Xijiang Golden Waterway merges with Beijiang River into the Pearl River Delta before running into the South China Sea. Zhaoqing New Port is one of the 28 important inland ports in the country.

There are national expressways No 321, No 324 and the Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing Expressway running through the territory, and the Pearl River Delta Ring Road, Shantou-Kunming and Shantou-Zhanjiang expressways are in the network. Both Nanning-Guangzhou and Guizhou-Guangzhou high-speed railways connect to Zhaoqing New District and the Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing Intercity Railway extends to the downtown area. A comprehensive traffic hub comprising "one intercity railway, two express links, seven expressways, and one golden waterway" is being formed.

Major development areas

National level: Zhaoqing High-Tech Industrial Development Zone

Provincial level: Zhaoqing Industrial Park

Role in the Greater Bay Area

According to the development plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Zhaoqing is positioned as one of the seven key node cities of the area. It is expected to: fully leverage its strength; deepen reform and innovation; enhance its composite strength, and develop itself into a city with distinct characteristics, complementary positioning and strong competitiveness; to enhance coordination in development; strengthen interaction and cooperation with the core cities; drive the development of towns nearby with distinct characteristics; and jointly raise the development quality of the city cluster.

Key words for Zhaoqing in the Greater Bay Area

Food safety:

Develop a distribution base for green agricultural by-products in Zhaoqing (Huaiji).

External transportation:

Build the Liuzhou-Zhaoqing Railway

Information about overview, industry and transport is courtesy of bayarea.gov.hk.