Guangzhou's GDP in 2017 surpassed two trillion yuan ($309 billion), according to Wen Guohui, mayor of Guangzhou, who delivered the city's 2018 government work report on Jan 11 during Guangzhou's two sessions.

The city is the fourth in China to have an annual GDP of over two trillion yuan, following Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Guangzhou is home to more than 900 key projects launched by Fortune Global 500 enterprises, with total investment value reaching 500 billion yuan. Its GDP per capita reached 150,000 yuan, ranking top among major cities in China, according to Zhou Jianjun, director of the Guangzhou municipal development and reform commission.

Wen Guohui, mayor of Guangzhou, delivers Guangzhou's 2018 government work report on Jan 11. [Photo/southcn.com]

In 2017, Guangzhou launched a raft of reforms to promote trade, reduce its costs and cut production and management expenses for enterprises. By cutting taxes, reducing customs clearance fees and lowering prices for electricity and natural gas over 80 billion yuan was cut from companies' financial burden.

From January to November, 2017, Guangzhou invested more than 144 billion yuan in 345 key projects in areas including infrastructure construction, high-tech industry, environmental protection and improvements to people's livelihoods.

To further boost its high-end and high-tech industries, the city also founded a special 10 billion-yuan investment fund for the biomedical industry and established a biological industry association to lure more related resources to settle in Guangzhou and build the city into a biomedical hub.