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Officials from Guangzhou's Nansha district showcased the area's advantages for regional integration and global capital and technology flows in Beijing on July 27 during a three-day promotion event. (Photo provided to China Daily)

Officials from Guangzhou's Nansha district showcased the area's advantages for regional integration and global capital and technology flows in Beijing on July 27 during a three-day promotion event to attract central State-owned enterprises (SOEs) as part of a broader opening-up drive.

The Guangdong provincial government hosted the event. At a dedicated Nansha session co-organized with the Investment Association of Central SOEs on July 27, district officials showcased the area's unique advantages for regional integration and as a gateway for global capital and technology flows.

Nansha is Guangzhou's only seaport gateway and home to one of the world's busiest container ports. The district posted an 11.5 percent GDP growth in the first half of the year. It sits at the geographic heart of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), within a one-hour drive of over 87 million people and 80 kilometers of five international airports, making it a vital hub linking the city clusters on both sides of the Pearl River Estuary, Hong Kong, and Macao.

Zhu Xiaojun, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce, said the province is mobilizing to advance the GBA, and Nansha is accelerating its transformation from a geographical center to a functional center and energy core.

"We look forward to central SOEs making Nansha their strategic foothold in the GBA, a hub for global resource allocation, and a launchpad for advanced manufacturing, marine economy, digital innovation, cross-border finance, and green and low-carbon industries," Zhu added.

According to the district's development and reform bureau, it has planned nearly 200 projects for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030). They span scientific and technological innovation, infrastructure, industrial development, and social welfare and carry a combined investment exceeding 600 billion yuan (US$ 82.7 billion).

Nansha is integrating and coordinating the growth of manufacturing and services as it accelerates the building of a modernized industrial system. Priority sectors include intelligent connected vehicles, shipbuilding, biomedicine, modern financial services, and shipping logistics.

Xu Kehui, deputy director of the strategy planning department at China State Shipbuilding Corporation, said the group plans to invest an additional 4 billion yuan in Nansha during the next five years to build a world-class final assembly base for ships.

He added that the new base would include an integrated zone for ship and marine equipment to drive the dual industry chains toward higher value-added segments.