Guangdong

Guangdong ({{zh-stpw |t=廣東 |s=广东 |p=Guǎngdōng |w=Kuang-tung}}; Postal System Pinyin: Kwangtung or Canton Province, Jyutping: gwong2 dung1; Vietnamese: Qu?ng ?ông), is a province on the south coast of the People's Republic of China. Sometimes, "Canton Province" (based on an obsolete French-derived transliteration of "Guangdong") is used to mean Guangdong. This is as opposed to "Canton (City)", which refers to the city of Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

Economy

After the communist takeover and until the start of the Deng Xiaoping reforms in 1978, Guangdong was an economic backwater. Economic development policies encouraged industrial development in the interior provinces which were weakly linked to Guangdong via transportation links. The government policy of economic autarky made Guangdong's access to the ocean irrelevant.

Related Topics:
Deng Xiaoping - 1978

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Deng Xiaoping's open door policy radically changed the economy of the province as it was able to take advantage of its access to the ocean, its closeness to Hong Kong, and historical links to overseas Chinese. In addition, until the 1990s when the Chinese taxation system was reformed, the province benefited from the relatively low rate of taxation placed on it by the central government due to its historical status of being economically backward.

Related Topics:
Overseas Chinese - 1990s - Chinese taxation system

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The province is now one of the richest in the nation, with the highest GDP among all provinces. Its nominal GDP for 2003 was 165 billion USD (the same size as Hong Kong's) and it contributes approximately 12% of national economic output. It has three of the four Special Economic Zones: Shenzhen, Shantou and Zhuhai. The affluence of Guangdong, however, remains very much concentrated near the Pearl River Delta.

Related Topics:
Special Economic Zones - Shenzhen - Shantou - Zhuhai - Pearl River Delta

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~