Guangzhou has more than 3.61 million operating entities and strategic emerging industries are developing rapidly.

On October 26, the Guangzhou Market Supervision Administration released data revealing that by the end of September, the city recorded 3.613 million registered businesses, with strategic emerging industries experiencing a rapid growth rate of 10.4% year-on-year.

The data indicates a positive growth trend across major industries in Guangzhou. Out of the 18 sectors classified under the national economy, 17 sectors reported a year-on-year increase in the number of operating businesses. The top five performing sectors were education; electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply; water conservation, environmental, and public facilities management; cultural, sports, and entertainment; as well as information transmission, software, and information technology services.

From January to September this year, the city registered 464,000 new businesses, marking a 13% increase compared to the previous year. Notably, 13 sectors saw positive growth in new registrations, with the top three sectors being education; electricity, heat, gas, and water production and supply; and information transmission, software, and information technology services, which grew by 364.7%, 42.7%, and 26.9%, respectively.

It’s also important to highlight the rapid development of strategic emerging industries in Guangzhou. The data shows that from January to September, there were 56,000 registered businesses in the biopharmaceutical sector and 46,000 in artificial intelligence, bringing the total to 464,000 and 348,000 respectively. Additionally, new registrations in advanced energy storage and low-altitude economy sectors grew by 23.7% and 25.8% year-on-year.

As of the end of September, Guangzhou’s strategic emerging industries had a total of 1.217 million operating businesses, representing a year-on-year increase of 10.4%, accounting for more than one-third of the total business entity count. This indicates a clear trend in the transition from old to new growth drivers.