More foreign firms invest in GZ amid crisis 
A TOTAL of 2,582 foreign enterprises invested in Guangzhou in the first three quarters, up 2.2 percent from the same period last year, despite the global financial crisis, recent figures released by the government show.

The city’s GDP growth accelerated in the first nine months quarter by quarter, according to the government.

Guangzhou’s GDP in the first three quarters of this year jumped 11.5 percent from the same period last year. Its GDP in the first six months grew by 10.5 percent from the first six months of last year. Its GDP in the first three months of this year jumped 10.2 percent from the same period last year, official figures show.

The city’s general revenue reached 71 billion yuan (US$10 billion) in the first 10 months of this year, up 23.9 percent from the same period last year, according to the government.

“Guangzhou is well braced for the financial crisis because it began to upgrade its industries and encourage innovation early,” Premier Wen Jiabao said when he visited the city last month.

Guangzhou has been replacing resource-consuming, labor-intensive industries with high-tech, service-oriented industries in recent years.

The added value of the four pillar industries- high-tech, logistics, finance and culture - accounted for 60 percent of the city’s GDP, according to government figures.

Guangzhou Daily 2008-12-2