The GDP growth rate is 6%. After five years, Guangzhou's growth rate in the first quarter outpaced that of the whole country and the province: The production volume of new energy vehicles exceeded 140,000 units.

In the first quarter of this year, the GDP growth rate of Guangzhou, a millennium commercial capital, outpaced both the national (5.0%) and provincial (4.6%) growth rates for the first time since 2021.

On April 23, the Guangzhou Statistics Bureau released the economic performance of Guangzhou in the first quarter of this year. According to the unified accounting results of the regional GDP of Guangdong Province, the regional GDP of the whole city in the first quarter of 2026 reached 798.888 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6% at constant prices. The growth rate was 2 percentage points higher than that of the whole last year.

Among them, the added value of the primary industry increased by 4.2%; the added value of the secondary industry increased by 5.8%; the added value of the tertiary industry increased by 6.1%. Generally speaking, the city's economic operation has rebounded and improved, with a strong start and a good beginning.

The city of Guangzhou viewed from an airplane

At the press conference on the economic performance of Guangzhou in the first quarter, Zhang Jianhua, the Party secretary and director of the Guangzhou Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, said that the added value of high-tech manufacturing in Guangzhou increased by 11.5% year-on-year in the first quarter.

Generally speaking, Guangzhou has achieved remarkable results in new energy vehicles, chip manufacturing, biomedicine, and the new AI track in the first quarter. Along with this, the tourism and cultural boom has boosted the popularity of Guangzhou's consumer market.

New energy vehicles and the new AI track play a leading role

Guangzhou's remarkable performance in the first quarter does not simply rely on traditional industries but shows a structural feature of "stable traditional industries and emerging industries advancing" - traditional industries stabilize the basic market, and emerging industries grow rapidly, jointly supporting the economy.

From the perspective of investment, this change is more intuitive.

Wu Sa, the Party secretary and director of the Guangzhou Development and Reform Commission, introduced that in the first quarter, 851 key municipal projects in the city completed an investment of 116.2 billion yuan, accounting for 30.6% of the annual planned investment. Driven by key projects, the city's fixed - asset investment in the first quarter reached 201 billion yuan, a 9.8% increase, breaking through the 200 - billion - yuan mark for the first time in the first quarter, and the total amount reached a record high for the same period.

The investment choices of enterprises also provide evidence for this trend.

Zhang Jianhua mentioned that in the first quarter, the city's industrial investment increased by 8.5% year-on-year, among which the investment in high-tech manufacturing increased by 25.5%, and the investment in technological transformation increased by 24.5%. There were 302 newly started projects, a 26.9% increase year-on-year. At the same time, the balance of loans to small, medium and micro enterprises increased by 16.1%. The fourth - phase project of Yuexin Semiconductor started construction, and AstraZeneca announced the layout of its first radioconjugate drug production base outside North America in Guangzhou. Market players are increasing their layout with actions.

If investment reflects expectations, then industrial performance reflects the direction of structural change.

In the first quarter, the emerging industries that Guangzhou focuses on cultivating continued to grow rapidly: the pharmaceutical manufacturing industry increased by 17.5%, the integrated circuit manufacturing industry increased by 1.1 times, and the output of civil drones increased by 18.5%. At the same time, "Artificial Intelligence +" is accelerating from concept to application. The revenues of the Internet software industry and the technology service industry increased by 12.9% and 27.3% respectively. Artificial intelligence is deeply integrated with R & D design, production and manufacturing.

On this basis, new driving forces have begun to become the key variables for driving growth. Zhang Jianhua said that the development of emerging industries in the first quarter was remarkable.

For example, the output of new energy vehicles reached 145,500, a year-on-year increase of 36.1%, driving the city's automobile output to increase by 2.5%; the output of integrated circuit wafers increased by 79.5%, and the output value doubled. The revenues in the fields of artificial intelligence, industrial software, and basic software increased by 14.2%, and the application scenarios such as smart cities increased by 11.9%. The outputs of service robots and civil drones increased by 11% and 18.5% respectively. At present, 73 vertical large models in the city have completed the filing, ranking among the top in the country.

The consumer side is exerting strength

In the first quarter, the total retail sales of consumer goods in Guangzhou reached 309.217 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.6%. The growth rate was 1.1 percentage points higher than that of the whole last year, higher than the national and provincial levels, ranking first among the five international consumption center cities. The resilience and vitality shown on the consumer side have injected new vitality into economic growth.

From a structural perspective, consumption is accelerating the transformation from "commodity - driven" to "commodity + service".

On the one hand, commodity consumption continued to pick up speed. Large - scale consumption such as automobiles and home appliances was outstanding, with increases of 31.9% and 36.6% respectively. "Self - pleasing" and "quality - oriented" consumption such as clothing, shoes and hats, cosmetics, and communication equipment maintained rapid growth. Policies such as trade - in continued to take effect, driving consumption of automobiles, 3C digital products, home appliances, etc. to exceed 10 billion yuan in the first quarter, benefiting more than 1.6 million citizens. Activities such as "Guangdong High - quality Product Purchase" further amplified demand, driving automobile sales to exceed 27 billion yuan.

On the other hand, service consumption accelerated its expansion and became a new growth point. The business income of the entertainment industry such as leisure and sightseeing increased by 12.6%, the travel agency service increased by 15.8%, and the popularity of the performing arts economy continued to rise.

The key to supporting consumption growth is the flow of "people".

In the first quarter, the number of entry - exit personnel in Guangzhou exceeded 5.2 million, a year-on-year increase of 22.7%. There were more than 1,600 tax - refund stores for outbound travelers, covering the whole city. The tax - refund application forms increased by 17.2 times year-on-year, and the inbound consumption environment continued to improve. The passenger volumes of waterways, railways, and the airport throughput of passengers all achieved double - digit growth, and the air passenger and cargo throughput increased by 9.7%. The recovery of the flow of people provided the most direct support for consumption.

On this basis, consumption scenarios also formed a butterfly effect.

Since March, large - scale concerts have been held intensively, and the "Yue BA" Guangdong Urban Basketball League has been launched, driving a significant increase in the cross - city audience flow for performances and sports events, forming a consumption chain of "watching performances and sports events + accommodation + catering + tourism and culture".

In March, the retail sales of the accommodation and catering industry in the city increased by 7.2% year-on-year, driving the retail sales in the first quarter to reach 32.418 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%, and pulling the total retail sales of social consumer goods up by 0.6 percentage points.

At the same time, segmented consumption scenarios continued to release potential.

The "she economy" broke out in spring. In the first quarter, the retail sales of clothing, shoes and hats, and knitted textiles above the designated size increased by 27.9% year-on-year, and the cosmetics category increased by 11.4%, jointly pulling the total retail sales of social consumer goods up by 1.6 percentage points. Online consumption was also active. Relying on activities such as the "Online Chinese New Year Goods Festival", the retail sales of goods of units above the designated size through the public network increased by 14.1%, faster than the overall growth rate of commodity retail. Offline, the construction of high - end commercial projects such as Guangzhou Racecourse SKP, Waldorf Astoria, Mixc City, Taikoo Li, and Outlets Park is being accelerated to further enhance the consumption attractiveness and radiation power of Guangzhou.

If we observe these factors together, we can see the internal logic of the faster recovery of consumption in Guangzhou: while local demand is gradually increasing, the inflow of external visitors continues; the superposition of multiple scenarios such as performances, sports events, and business districts amplifies the consumption chain; coupled with the continuous increase of policies and supply - side efforts, a linkage mechanism of "flow of people - scenarios - consumption" is formed.

This structure driven by both domestic and external demand makes Guangzhou's consumption show obvious structural expansion and continuously transform into real driving force for economic growth.

So, how should Guangzhou's economy "make steady progress" in the future?

The site of the launch ceremony of "Guangdong Goods Go Global"

Wei Min, the Party secretary and director of the Guangzhou Bureau of Commerce, mentioned that in combination with important nodes such as the Canton Fair and May Day, the city will continue to make full use of the national and provincial consumption - promotion policies, promote the implementation of the pilot reform of automobile circulation and consumption, launch the Guangzhou Service Consumption Season, hold characteristic activities such as the Food Carnival and Coffee Season, continuously optimize the consumption environment, and make every effort to consolidate the good momentum of consumption, so that the general public and tourists can share the consumption dividends and keep Guangzhou's consumption booming.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Time Weekly" (ID: timeweekly). Author: Fu Yibo, Editor: Li Guang. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.