Guangzhou saw high commercial growth in 2018, with another 5,376 enterprises being established by foreign direct investors, a 120 percent year-on-year increase. 

Contractual foreign investment doubled to $39.96 billion, with actual use of foreign capital reaching $6.61 billion, an increase of 5.1 percent. A total of 165 new foreign investment projects were launched, an increase of 10.7 percent.

In 2018, total retail sales of social consumer goods in Guangzhou hit 925.62 billion yuan ($137.71 bilion), a year-on-year increase of 7.6 percent. Wholesale and retail sales were valued at 6.5 trillion yuan, up 11.7 percent from 2017.

The total value of imports and exports hit 981.01 billion yuan, an increase of 1.0 percent year-on-year. Exports accounted for 560.75 billion yuan, down 3.2 percent, while imports accounted for 420.26 billion yuan, up 7.1 percent.

According to the Guangzhou municipal commerce bureau, in 2019, the city's total retail sales of consumer goods is expected to increase by about 7 percent, imports and exports are expected to increase by about 3 percent, and the actual use of foreign investment is expected to be about the same as in 2018.