The Haizhu district high quality development conference and the opening ceremony of the Pazhou provincial-level economic development zone were held in the new hall of the Guangzhou Cultural Center on Feb 3.

The Haizhu district high quality development conference and the opening ceremony of the Pazhou provincial-level economic development zone. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

The conference showcased 13 projects, including the fourth phase of the Canton Fair Exhibition Hall and Pazhou-Hong Kong-Macao Passenger Port, with a total construction scale of 3.05 million square meters. Haizhu held groundbreaking ceremonies for 17 projects with a total investment of 32.8 billion yuan ($4.8 billion). Agreements on 26 projects, including the Baidu AI Studio Center, Pazhou AI Computing Center, and Pazhou Laboratory, have been signed in Haizhu district, with a total investment of over 50 billion yuan.

In 2022, the GDP of Haizhu exceeded 250 billion yuan, with a growth rate higher than Guangzhou's average. The revenue of the internet industry and related services above designated size (those with an annual turnover of over 20 million yuan) increased by 48.5 percent. In addition, the district’s industrial added value, fixed assets investment, and general public budget revenue increased by 8.8 percent, 14.8 percent, and 24.5 percent respectively, ranking first in the city.

Pazhou artificial intelligence and digital economy pilot zone. [Photo/WeChat account: gzhzfb]

In 2023, the GDP of Haizhu is expected to increase by 7 percent, with officials striving to achieve a 7.5 percent growth. The district’s fixed assets investment is projected to reach 53.5 billion yuan, up 12 percent, while its new generation IT service industry is expected to grow by 18.5 percent

In 2022, the number of enterprises in Pazhou artificial intelligence and digital economy pilot zone reached 34,000, with revenue exceeding 400 billion yuan and the average revenue of enterprises exceeding 11 million yuan.

At present, Pazhou Pilot Zone has 1,608 enterprises above designated size, 345 high-tech enterprises, and 98 headquarters enterprises, accounting for 40 percent, 52.8 percent, and 59.8 percent of the whole region's total, respectively. It is home to seven future unicorn enterprises and four unicorn enterprises, among which three are listed on the 2021 Global Unicorn List, namely Root Cloud, Zhijing Technology, and Sudao Information.

Since 2022, about 152 new key investment projects have been launched in Haizhu, including three investment projects at the 10 billion yuan level, as well as 22 investment projects by China and the world's top 500 companies.

In 2022, Haizhu introduced more than 30 key digital economy industry chain enterprises, contributing more than 9 billion yuan in revenue. In 2023, Haizhu has planned 283 major investment projects with a total investment of 541.3 billion yuan, including seven new projects with a total investment of more than 5 billion yuan and 26 projects with a total investment of more than 1 billion yuan.