The China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Nansha Area of Guangzhou, unveiled in 2015, hosts 91,230 companies in 2018. [Photo/gzns.gov.cn]

The Nansha Area of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone of Guangzhou, unveiled in 2015, hosted 91,230 companies in 2018, compared to 8,400 in 2015. The value of cross-border e-commerce transactions in the area climbed from 30 million yuan in 2015 to 9.87 billion yuan in 2018. In March 1979, the Japanese city of Fukuoka became the first city to establish a sister city relationship with Guangzhou.

After decades of development, Guangzhou has now signed sister city contracts or established cooperation with 76 cities in 54 countries, in addition to 51 ports. There are now 64 foreign consulates general in Guangzhou, second only to Shanghai.

In 2018, Guangzhou hosted 61 international conferences, including the 2018 World Route Development Conference.

By the end of the first half of 2019, 301 of the world's top 500 companies were operating in Guangzhou with 1,017 projects, including the expansion project of GAC Toyota.

In addition, being an important city in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Guangzhou is known as an international transportation hub for land, sea, and air travel.

The handling capacity of Guangzhou Port grew from 3.11 million metric tons in 1952 to 613 million tons in 2018, ranking fifth in the world and up 29.6 percent over 2013.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which boasts three runways and two terminals, is one of the three largest aviation hubs in China. It hosts 75 airline companies from China and abroad and offers flights to more than 210 destinations around the world.

In 1978, the annual passenger throughput of the Baiyun airport was less than 700,000, while in 2018 it was nearly 70 million, ranking third in China and 13th in the world. International passenger throughput in 2018 was 17.32 million, accounting for nearly a quarter of all passengers.

Guangzhou has been actively participating in the BRI, and investments in Guangzhou by countries involved in the BRI have seen a year-on-year growth of 121.4 percent in 2018.