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E-mail China.org.cn, April 8, 2024
Chen Wenjun:
Thank you, Mr. Wang. Now the floor is open for questions. Please identify the news agency you represent before asking your questions.
Beijing Youth Daily:
We noted that this year's government work report set the GDP growth target at around 5%. Mr. Wang just mentioned that major economic provinces should shoulder their responsibility by taking on the main burden. How will Guangdong assume this responsibility and contribute more to national development? Thank you.
Wang Weizhong:
Thank you for your question. As one of the major economic provinces, Guangdong must bear greater responsibilities, leading the way in economic development and making more contributions to the nation. Our target this year is 5%, and we are confident in achieving it. Our confidence stems from decisions made by the leadership of the CPC Central Committee. The Central Committee set the goals of seeking progress while maintaining stability, promoting stability through progress, and establishing the new before abolishing the old. We have pursued economic development and high-quality development as our central task and redoubled our efforts to promote project investments. Last year, the province's industrial investment grew by 22.2%, maintaining double-digit growth for 36 consecutive months. Investment in technological upgrades grew by 22.4%, the highest in the past six years. This year, Guangdong has allocated 1 trillion yuan for key provincial construction projects and over 320 billion yuan for industrial projects. The province is also accelerating the construction of 55 major manufacturing projects with investments exceeding 5 billion yuan each, and planning a large number of high-quality projects for future implementation. In 2023, we encouraged over 9,300 enterprises to undergo technological transformations and more than 5,000 industrial enterprises above designated size to undergo digital transformation. Building on last year's success, we aim to promote technological upgrades for over 10,000 industrial enterprises and digital transformation for 9,200 industrial enterprises above designated size. Our confidence comes from the vibrant market and a surge in popularity. Last year, the number of market entities in Guangdong increased by 1.728 million, reaching 18 million. Among them, the number of self-employed individuals rose by 1.11 million, exceeding 10 million, and the total number of enterprises reached 7.8 million, accounting for one-seventh of the national total. In the first two months of this year, an additional 330,000 market entities were established, including 182,000 self-employed individuals and 148,000 enterprises. With a population exceeding 150 million, Guangdong received 777 million tourists last year, generating tourism revenue of over 950 billion yuan, ranking first in the country. During this year's Spring Festival holiday, Guangdong received 76.07 million visitors, up 68%, with the revenue of the province's tourism market growing by 160% to 69.4 billion yuan. Guangdong is experiencing a surge in popularity. From January to February, Guangdong's economy showed a momentum of rebound and improvement, with its industrial sector, consumption, investment and total imports and exports rising by 10.6%, 6.1%, 4.3% and 24.9%, respectively.
We will seize every favorable opportunity, take advantage of all favorable conditions and work as much as possible to consolidate and build momentum for economic recovery and growth. In terms of serving enterprises, Guangdong helped them save an additional 200 billion yuan last year. In 2024, the province will launch a number of new enterprise-friendly policies in order to reinforce the principal position of enterprises in innovation and to reduce the costs of logistics, bringing more tangible benefits to enterprises. The CPC Central Committee has deployed a new round of large-scale equipment upgrades and trade-ins with consumer goods, which is quite in line with conditions in Guangdong. Guangdong is both a major manufacturing and consumption province. We are stepping up efforts to formulate implementation plans and supportive policies. We will adhere to the market-based approach, promote government guidance, increase fiscal, tax, financial and production support, and promote the advancement and transformation of equipment in seven major fields, with a focus on saving energy and reducing carbon to ultra-low emissions, safely manufacturing products, and promoting digital transformation and intelligent upgrades. We will carry out trade-ins of consumer goods including automobiles, household appliances and home decorations in order to deliver more tangible benefits from policy dividends. We will make a good start in the first quarter, achieve good results in the first half of the year and deliver an excellent performance throughout the year. Thank you.
