Our office's mission is to assist American businesses enter and succeed in the Southern China market (the provinces Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi and Hainan).
- Our jurisdiction covers an area of 569,900 square kilometers
- 160 million people live in this region.
The area generally referred to as Southern China covers the provinces of Guangdong, Fujian, Guangxi Autonomous Region, and Hainan Island. These four provinces have a population in excess of 200 million, and contain China’s richest cities, as the South was the first area in China to be opened to the outside world.
Much of that development, especially in Guangdong, has been fueled by the region’s proximity to the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and Taiwan. HKSAR has provided much of the capital, technology and business savvy that has made the Pearl River Delta China’s most prosperous region. Meanwhile, Taiwanese firms are the leading investors in Fujian, which is home to two of China’s wealthiest and most developed cities, Xiamen and Fuzhou.
The rest of Southern China is not as well off as Guangdong and Fujian. Hainan Island enjoyed a boom in the late 1980s when it was declared a Special Economic Zone, but that boom went bust when many of Hainan’s special privileges were revoked. Hainan is still trying to develop as a tourist center, but its appeal is largely to Chinese vacationers. Guangxi, home to famous Guilin, is largely mountainous, rural and poor.
The concentration of highly polluting industries has created considerable environmental problems, and the population density (over 25 million in the Pearl River Delta alone) has contributed to increasing infrastructure problems for the movement of goods and people. This has led to an increased initiative to develop transportation infrastructure such as roads, bridges and mass transit facilities, as well as airports.
U.S. Commercial Service - Guangzhou
14/F China Hotel Office Tower, Room 1461
Liu Hua Road
Guangzhou 510015, China
Tel: (86-20) 8667-4011
Fax: (86-20) 8666-6409
Email: Guangzhou.Office.Box@mail.doc.gov
Please feel free to e-mail our U.S. Commercial Service contacts by industry.