Foshan crosses trillion-yuan GDP threshold

Foshan city of Guangdong province became a trillion-yuan city last year, following in the footsteps of China’s information technology hub, Shenzhen, and the provincial capital, Guangzhou. Although the final data is not out yet, preliminary figures indicate the city is on track to reach its goal. Last year, the city generated nearly 794 billion yuan in the first three quarters. This performance surpassed both national and provincial averages in terms of percentage growth and puts the city on track to exceed one trillion by the year-end. During this period, the city performed 7% better than it did in the previous year. Foshan excels in three areas: home appliances, furniture and ceramics. Exports in each area rose by 7%, 15% and 9% respectively. Importers from Europe and countries along the Belt and Road Initiative have helped to make up for part of the lost demand too.

Shenzhen bourse rises to market value of 23.7 trillion yuan

The total market value of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, one of the major bourses in China, came in at 23.7 trillion yuan (about $3.4 trillion) in 2019, the exchange said in a statement. The initial public offering (IPO) applications of 78 companies were approved last year, bringing the number of listed companies on the Shenzhen bourse to 2,205. A total of 508.93 billion yuan was raised in 2019 through stocks on the Shenzhen bourse, according to the exchange. The bourse pledges strict enforcement of the revised securities law, continued advance of capital market reform and strengthened supervision to promote high-quality development of the economy.

Guangzhou unveils 15-year rail transit development plan

The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou last week unveiled a 15-year development plan to build a multi-layer urban rail network, according to local authorities. The plan was approved by the standing committee of Guangzhou’s municipal committee of the Communist Party of China in December 2019, and aims at increasing rail’s share of public transportation to 80 percent by 2035. By building high-speed direct railway tracks, travel time between major cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area will be reduced to less than 60 minutes, the municipal bureau of planning and natural resources said. Two new metro lines will be added, together with an east-west high-speed subway track linking downtown Guangzhou with the neighboring cities of Foshan and Dongguan.