Guangzhou, also
known as Canton and formerly romanized as Kwangchow, is the
capital and most populous city of the province of Guangdong in
southern China. On the Pearl River about 120 km (75 mi)
north-northwest of Hong Kong and 145 km (90 mi) north of Macau,
Guangzhou has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major
terminus of the maritime Silk Road, and continues to serve as a
major port and transportation hub, as well as one of China’s
three largest cities. Due to a high urban population and large
volumes of port traffic, Guangzhou is a Large-Port Megacity, the
largest type of port-city in the world.
Guangzhou is at the heart of the most-populous built-up
metropolitan area in mainland China, which extends into the
neighboring cities of Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan and Shenzhen,
forming one of the largest urban agglomerations on Earth, the
Pearl River Delta Economic Zone. Administratively, the city
holds subprovincial status and is one of China’s nine National
Central Cities. At the end of 2018, the population of the city’s
expansive administrative area was estimated at 14,904,400 by
city authorities, up 3.8% from the previous year. Guangzhou is
highly ranked as an Alpha- (global first-tier) city together
with San Francisco (the U.S) and Stockholm (Sweden). Guangzhou
also ranks 21st globally (between Washington, D.C. and
Amsterdam) and 8th in Asia (behind Shanghai, Tokyo, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Beijing, Shenzhen and Dubai) in the 2020 Global
Financial Centers Index (GFCI). There is a rapidly increasing
number of foreign temporary residents and immigrants from
Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. This
recent population influx has led to it being dubbed the “Capital
of the Third World”.
The domestic migrant population from other provinces of China in
Guangzhou was 40% of the city’s total population in 2008.
Together with Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, Guangzhou has one
of the most expensive real estate markets in China. In the late
1990s and early 2000s, nationals of sub-Saharan Africa who had
initially settled in the Middle East and other parts of
Southeast Asia moved in unprecedented numbers to Guangzhou in
response to the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis.
Long the only Chinese port accessible to most foreign traders,
Guangzhou was captured by the British during the First Opium
War. No longer enjoying a monopoly after the war, it lost trade
to other ports such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, but continued to
serve as a major transshipment port. Nowadays, in modern
commerce, Guangzhou is best known for its annual Canton Fair,
the oldest and largest trade fair in China. For three
consecutive years (2013–2015), Forbes ranked Guangzhou as the
best commercial city in mainland China. Guangzhou ranks 10th in
the world and 5th in China (after Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong
and Shenzhen) in terms of the number of billionaires according
to the Hurun Global Rich List 2020.
The city is home to many of China’s most prestigious
universities, including Nanfang College · Guangzhou, South China
University of Technology, South China Normal University and
Jinan University. Guangzhou is also one of the top cities in the
world by scientific research as tracked by the Nature Index and
it ranks 15th globally and fifth in China (after Beijing,
Shanghai, Nanjing and Wuhan).