Guangdong attracts $10.7 billion in APEC investment in first three quarters

South China's Guangdong province registered 71.54 billion yuan ($10.7 billion) in foreign investment from APEC economies in the year's first three quarters, a growth of 13.7 percent year-on-year that reflects expanding ties in the bloc.

An aerial view of Canton Tower in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. (Photo: China Daily)

Zhu Xiaojun, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce, detailed this year's economic data relating to APEC economies during a news conference in Guangzhou to promote the 2026 Global Investment Promotion Conference for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area on Wednesday.

Riding the energy brought by the APEC Meetings to be held in Shenzhen in November, the Chinese special economic zone bordering Hong Kong has tried to build itself into "the world's top destination of choice for investment" this year.

Liu Zhenqiang, deputy director of the Shenzhen Investment Promotion Bureau, said Shenzhen's actual utilized foreign investment exceeded 44 billion yuan in the first three quarters of the year, rising by more than 60 percent year-on-year. Roughly 90 percent of that total came from APEC members.

This investment has helped Guangdong lead China's provincial-level regions in utilized foreign investment, having reached a total of 89.17 billion yuan in the first three quarters, up 14.1 percent year-on-year, according to Zhu.

Zhu explained that 5,718 projects with a cumulative value exceeding 9 trillion yuan were signed in the previous four editions of the investment promotion conference, playing an increasingly important role in accelerating the GBA's high-quality and integrated development.

The 2026 edition of the conference is set to open on Nov 3.