Guangzhou's gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to exceed 600 billion yuan (US$77 billion) this year, up more than 10 percent over 2005, said the city's mayor Zhang Guangning at a press conference on Monday.

Mayor of Guangzhou Zhang Guangning (C) gestures at a press conference held in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, December 18, 2006. [chinadaily.com.cn]

Guangzhou, the capital city of South China's Guangdong Province, with a registered population of 8.53 million, will see a per capita GDP of more than US$10,000 this year, Zhang said that he is "fully confident" in the local economic growth.

The per capita net income of rural residents in Guangzhou will rose 10 percent to reach 7,800 yuan, he said.

In the first three quarters, Guangzhou approved 158 projects with an investment of more than US$10 million each, an increase of 10.5 percent from a year earlier.

Statistics showed that the city's economy grew at an average yearly rate of 13.82 percent in the 10th Five-Year-Plan period (2001-2005) and its GDP in 2005 hit 545.12 billion yuan.

The mayor said Guangdong has been putting much effort into improving its environment to make the city an environmentally friendly place for its people to work and live in.

The city arranged seven major environmental protection projects with a planned investment totaling 15 billion yuan in the past five years. Some 5.5-billion-yuan investment had been put into use during the period to generate 13,100 hectares of green area. By 2005, the vegetation coverage rate in Guangzhou rose to 36.38 percent with per capita public green land at 11.32 square meters.

Over the past three years, the city's authorities also strengthened pollution control over manufacturing enterprises. More than 600 heavy-polluting operations like cement moved out or shut down.

In addition, a comprehensive sewage treatment system has been established in the city to ensure proper handling of household and industrial waste. The government has set up and renovated four sewage treatment plants. The rate of sewage treatment grew to 71.34 percent in 2005 from 26.3 percent in 2000.

Thanks to the municipal government's efforts, ecological environment of the city has been significantly restored. It was rated as a national green city by the State Environmental Protection Administration.

Guangzhou will increase 136 square kilometers green area, and the sewage disposal rate will top 90 percent in 2010 when the Asian games will be held in the city, Zhang said.

Mayor of Guangzhou Zhang Guangning gestures at a press conference held in Guangzhou, South China's Guangdong Province, December 18, 2006. [chinadaily.com.cn]

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