Since then, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council have successively introduced plans or programs related to major cooperation platforms, making the framework of the major cooperation platform system, with the Hengqin-Macao Deep Cooperation Zone, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, Guangzhou Nansha, and the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone as the main components, clearer and more complete.

Guangdong deepens comprehensive reforms in "five external linkages" - foreign trade, foreign investment, outsourcing, foreign economic relations, and foreign intelligence - focusing on optimizing the structure of foreign trade, building an integrated domestic and international economic and trade network, and strengthening the alignment of rules and mechanisms. The province is accelerating the formation of new advantages in international cooperation and competition, paving the way for expanding high-level opening up.

The contribution rate of Guangdong's foreign trade import and export to the national foreign trade growth exceeded % in the first three quarters of the year.

Unlike the initial phase of reform and opening up, which relied on geographical and cost advantages to attract foreign investment, Guangdong is now focusing on creating a "strong magnetic field" for business environment, actively attracting high-quality multinational enterprises to deepen development, and continuously upgrading its investment structure.

To optimize its external economic layout, Guangdong has implemented the "Guangdong Headquarters + Overseas Manufacturing Base" development model, guiding the orderly investment and layout of its advantageous industries and enterprises in Southeast Asia, Europe, and Africa.

We enhance the construction and layout of inland ports, improve the efficiency of multimodal transport and the level of comprehensive services, bringing international ports to the "doorstep" of inland customers.

As a global chemical giant, BASF's decision to establish its research and innovation platform in Guangdong serves as a significant indicator, with profound strategic implications behind it. As an integral part of the overall industrial chain layout, the talent chain accompanying the research and innovation platform is a crucial step for Guangdong in exploring high-level openness to the outside world.

In a visit to Guangdong, President Xi Jinping emphasized that we must anchor our efforts in the goals of building a strong nation and achieving national rejuvenation, focusing on high-quality development as the primary task and the strategic task of constructing a new development paradigm. We must continue to lead the nation in comprehensively deepening reforms, expanding high-level opening-up, enhancing self-reliance in science and technology, building a modern industrial system, and promoting coordinated development between urban and rural areas and among regions. We must also take the lead in advancing the construction of Chinese-style modernization.

High-level deployment and supportive policies have been rolled out one after another. In [year], the State Council issued the "Plan for Further Deepening the Reform and Opening-up of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone," granting the free trade zone greater autonomy in reforms. In [year], the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued the "Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area," further enhancing the role of the Greater Bay Area as a support and leading force in national economic development and opening-up. Since [year], the CPC Central Committee and the State Council have consecutively introduced plans or programs for major cooperation platforms, making the framework of the major cooperation platforms, including the Hengqin-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone, the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone, Guangzhou Nansha, and the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, clearer and more comprehensive.

Issuing the "Action Plan for the Promotion Strategy of the China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone," and the "Opinions on Implementing the 'Five External Linkages' to Advance High-level Opening-up"... Following the direction set by General Secretary, Guangdong has deepened comprehensive reforms in foreign trade, foreign investment, outsourcing, foreign economic relations, and foreign intelligence, focusing on optimizing the structure of foreign trade, building an integrated domestic and international economic and trade network, strengthening the alignment of rules and mechanisms, accelerating the formation of new advantages in international cooperation and competition, and exploring paths for expanding high-level opening-up.

From January to September, Guangdong's foreign trade import and export contributed more than % to the national foreign trade growth. From January to October, Guangdong's non-financial direct investment abroad amounted to $. billion, and the completed business turnover of foreign contracted projects reached $. billion; from January to October, the province established new foreign direct investment enterprises, an increase of .% year-on-year.

In the new era and on the new journey, the tide of openness, integration, transformation, and innovation surges forward. Facing the future, Guangdong is continuously improving the high-level open economy system, constantly gaining advantages, initiative, and a promising future in high-level openness.

Be a "pillar" for the development of open economy.

Thousands of years ago, Chinese silk made its way to the world along the Maritime Silk Road from the coast of the South China Sea; in the past decade, made-in-China products have crossed the ocean to reach the global market through cross-border e-commerce from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. By continuously optimizing trade structures and fostering new export-oriented economic dynamics, Guangdong has seen a new trend of mutual promotion and dual strength in both domestic and foreign trade, as well as domestic and foreign investment.

In the year, the total foreign trade import and export volume of Guangdong surpassed the trillion-yuan mark. Currently, a total of . million foreign-invested enterprises have been established, with nearly billion USD of actual utilized foreign capital; the indicators for service outsourcing execution amount, outbound investment, and the number of overseas talents introduced all rank among the top in the nation.

Cultivating New Foreign Trade Formats and Enhancing New Advantages in International Trade. Thousands of overseas buyers watched, nearly a hundred potential clients connected – at the 130th Canton Fair, Shenzhen Xizhiwang Technology Co., Ltd. achieved results far beyond expectations for the first time by live streaming on Alibaba International Station. "By integrating offline exhibition with online live streaming, we quickly reached buyers, as if we were holding a global press conference!" said Cheng Mo, General Manager of Xizhiwang.

This is a microcosm of Guangdong's foreign trade achieving new growth through new business forms such as cross-border e-commerce. Aiming at the pain points and blockages in the development of new foreign trade business forms, Guangdong has successively introduced special policies such as the high-quality development of cross-border e-commerce, the high-quality development of e-commerce, the high-quality development of overseas warehouses, and the sustained and stable development of cross-border e-commerce, achieving full coverage of cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zones across all prefecture-level cities in the province.

Numerous traditional foreign trade factories are leveraging cross-border e-commerce to open new channels for foreign trade and even build their own brands, continuously climbing to higher positions in the value chain. "The cross-border e-commerce platform under Pinduoduo Group has penetrated into more than 100 manufacturing industry clusters in Guangdong, Zhejiang, and other regions in China, promoting high-quality products to enter multiple countries and regions around the world," said Fan Jiezhen, co-founder of Pinduoduo.

The total import and export volume of cross-border e-commerce in Guangdong Province has surged from 100 billion yuan in the year to 100 billion yuan in the year, with an average annual growth rate of .%, accounting for more than / of the national total. The new business models have propelled the simultaneous development of traditional and emerging industries, with both the "old three" and "new three" thriving, driving a strong growth in Guangdong's exports.

Zhang Ke, Deputy Director of the Guangdong Branch of the General Administration of Customs, introduced that in the first three quarters of the year, Guangdong's foreign trade import and export reached 7.03 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 0.6%, contributing 96.6% to the national foreign trade growth, playing a leading role as a main force and vanguard in the national foreign trade landscape.

High-quality foreign investment attraction and continuous upgrading of investment structure. On a certain date, the official production ceremony was held for the project of the South China Air Conditioning Production Base of Daikin Industries, Ltd., located in Boluo County, Huizhou City. The project has a total investment of 1.7 billion yuan, and upon full completion, it will be Daikin's largest air conditioning production base in China. "We specifically established a multi-connected air conditioner production base in South China, mainly considering the favorable conditions here in industrial clusters, professional talents, and business environment," said Kyohei Ishikawa, General Manager of Daikin Air Conditioning (Huizhou) Co., Ltd.

Focusing on ensuring national treatment for foreign-invested enterprises in aspects such as access to factors of production, qualification licensing, standard setting, and government procurement, Guangdong has successively introduced high-quality measures to attract foreign investment, including the Foreign Investment Regulation, the Foreign Investment Stability Regulation, the Measures to Encourage Multinational Corporations to Establish Regional Headquarters, the Foreign Investment Rights Protection Regulation, the Investment Promotion Regulation, and the New Round of Foreign Investment Incentive Policies, emphasizing the enhancement of investment attraction.

In the first half of the year, Guangdong province established 10,000 new foreign-invested enterprises, a year-on-year increase of 40.6%; the actual utilization of foreign capital reached 70.22 billion yuan, with 21 large projects exceeding 100 million U.S. dollars, and the absorption of foreign capital from developed countries and regions such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea increased by 10.4% year-on-year.

Unlike the initial phase of reform and opening up, which relied on geographical and cost advantages to attract foreign investment, Guangdong is now focusing on creating a "strong magnetic field" for business environment, actively attracting high-quality multinational enterprises to deepen their development, and continuously upgrading the structure of investment attraction. Since then, Guangdong has implemented targeted industrial chain investment promotion around key areas such as biomedicine, new energy storage, artificial intelligence, and low-altitude economy; introduced new foreign investment incentive policies, improved the direct communication mechanism between provincial leaders and multinational companies, organized on-site investment promotion through provincial and municipal efforts, and created an attractive policy environment.

In the biopharmaceutical industry alone, Guangdong has held multiple investment promotion events, signed projects, with a total investment of billions of yuan, attracting the establishment of headquarters and foreign R&D centers by multinational companies. Currently, Guangdong's actual utilization of foreign capital has exceeded USD 10 billion for consecutive years, with over 100 Fortune 500 companies investing in the province.

Service Outsourcing Enhances Quality and Efficiency, Building the "World's Office." "This is so cool!" exclaimed Raul Lopez Parra, a businessman from Mexico, as he sat in the passenger cabin of an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft. "It has great potential in Mexico, especially for entrepreneurs who want to improve efficiency and shorten commuting time." At the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the drones from EHang, a representative enterprise of Guangdong's low-altitude economic industry, became a hit.

Naked-eye holographic fan screens, intelligent spinal adjustment robots, industrial glasses, and other "Cantonese" smart manufacturing products have sparked great interest among international merchants with their diverse application scenarios. In recent years, Guangdong has been making efforts to promote the development of service trade.