Development program narrows urban-rural gap in Guangdong

Guangdong province has seen faster growth in its urban and rural areas over the past two years, following the launch of a provincial initiative aimed at narrowing the urban-rural development gap, a senior local official said on Tuesday.

The gross domestic product growth rate of Guangdong's 57 counties has exceeded the provincial average for two consecutive years since the High-Quality Development Project for Guangdong Counties, Towns and Villages was introduced more than three years ago, according to Xu Zhihui, executive deputy secretary-general of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China.

Speaking at a news conference in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, Xu said the program was designed to strengthen county-level economies and support rural revitalization by addressing long-standing disparities between urban and rural areas.

"These counties have achieved an overall net inflow of population, and the urbanization rate of the permanent resident population in county-level areas has increased from 44.72 percent to 46.48 percent," he said.

Income gaps have also narrowed, with the province's urban-rural income ratio falling from 2.41:1 to 2.31:1, Xu said.

He said provincial authorities have coordinated the development of traditional and emerging industries, as well as industries aimed at strengthening county economies and increasing household incomes. Efforts have focused on cultivating county-level industries with distinctive characteristics and greater scale.

As part of this push, Guangdong has established 64 provincial-level industrial parks and 13 characteristic industrial parks across its counties, which Xu said have played an important role in supporting rural economic development.

The province has also stepped up investment in modern agriculture and the marine economy. Guangdong has established 12 national-level advantageous and distinctive industrial clusters and 24 national-level modern agricultural industrial parks, supporting large-scale agricultural clusters in sectors such as grain and vegetables, as well as smaller clusters in tea and flowers, Xu said.

In addition, Guangdong is expanding modern marine ranching, advancing seed technology and equipment innovation, and accelerating offshore wind power projects. In 2024, the province's gross marine product exceeded 2 trillion yuan ($283.69 billion), ranking first nationwide for the 30th consecutive year, Xu added.

Lu Jiaxin contributed to this story.