Historical City with Dynamism
With a history of 2,233 years, Guangzhou is the departure port of the ancient Maritime Silk Road and the only foreign trade port that never closed to the outside world in the past milleniums, hence the reputation of “A Millennial Commerce Capital”. The China Import and Export Fair (Canton Fair) is held bi-annually in Guangzhou. In the world city ranking issued by Globalization and World Cities Research Network (GaWC), Guangzhou's ranking rose to Alpha from Alpha- in 2016, ranking 27th out of 55 global first-tier cities. Besides, Guangzhou topped Forbes China List of Best Cities for Business for five times, and won the first place in China's "City of Opportunity" twice. In 2018 White Paper on the Business Environment in China released by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China, Guangzhou stood out as the most popular investment city among China's 44 cities.
Under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, Guangzhou is striving to revitalize the old city and make new achievements in urban functions, cultural strength, modern service industry and modern international business environment. In 2018, Guangzhou's GDP reached 2285.935 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 6.2%, and 301 Fortune Global 500 companies invested 1,017 projects accumulatively in Guangzhou.