Map of Pearl River Delta (details)

The Pearl River Delta Region (PRD) in China occupies the low-lying areas alongside the Pearl River estuary where the Pearl river flows into the South China Sea. Since the "Open Door Policy" was adopted by the Communist Party of China in the late 1970s, the portion of the delta in Guangdong Province has become one of the leading economic regions and a massive manufacturing center of mainland China. The PRC government hopes that the manufacturing in Guangdong, combined with the financial and service economy and traditional western influence in Hong Kong will create an economic gateway attracting foreign capital throughout mainland China. Standard Mandarin – also known as Standard Chinese or Standard spoken Chinese – is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Singapore. ... Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: ), commonly called Pinyin, is the most common variant of Standard Mandarin romanization system in use. ... Standard Cantonese is a variant, and is generally considered the prestige dialect of Cantonese Chinese. ... Articles with similar titles include the NATO phonetic alphabet, which has also informally been called the “International Phonetic Alphabet”. For information on how to read IPA transcriptions of English words, see IPA chart for English. ... Jyutping (sometimes spelled Jyutpin) is a romanization system for Standard Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) in 1993. ... Map for Pearl River Delta This work is copyrighted, and used with permission. ... Map for Pearl River Delta This work is copyrighted, and used with permission. ... Pearl River in Guangzhou Pearl River at night, Guangzhou The Zhu Jiang, (珠江 Pinyin: Zhū Jiāng), or Pearl River, is Chinas third longest river (2,200 km, after the Yangtze River and the Yellow River), and second largest by volume (after the Yangtze). ... Rio de la Plata estuary Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Estuaries An estuary is a semi-enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. ... The South China Sea, showing surrounding countries and neighbouring seas and oceans The South China Sea is a marginal sea south of China. ... – Spheres of influence in China prior to the Open Door Policy. ... The Communist Party of China (CPC) (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; Pinyin: ), also known as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the ruling political party of the Peoples Republic of China, a position guaranteed by the countrys constitution. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ... Guangdong, often spelt as Kwangtung, is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... ...

Location and demographics

The PRD covers nine prefectures of the Guangdong Province, namely Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Foshan, Huizhou (only includes Huizhou City, Huiyang, Huidong, Boluo), Jiangmen and Zhaoqing (only includes Zhaoqing City, Gaoyao and Sihui), and the SARs of Hong Kong and Macau. Guangdong (Simplified Chinese: 广东; Traditional Chinese: 廣東; pinyin: Guǎngdōng; Wade-Giles: Kuang-tung; Kwangtung in older transliteration; Cantonese: gwong2 dung1), is a province on the south coast of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Guangzhou is the capital and the sub-provincial city of Guangdong Province in the southern part of the Peoples Republic of China. ... Shenzhen is a sub-provincial city of Guangdong province in southern China, located at the border with Hong Kong. ... Zhuhai waterfront Zhuhai Campus of Zhongshan University Zhuhai (Chinese: ; pinyin: ; lit. ... Dongguan (Simplified Chinese: ; pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Statue of Sun Yat-sen in Sunwen Memorial Park. ... Foshan (Chinese: ; Pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, Peoples Republic of China. ... Huizhou (Simplified Chinese: 惠州; Pinyin: ) is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province, Peoples Republic of China. ... The Sino-British Restaurant, a renovated building along Changdi Middle road in the waterfront district. ... Zhaoqing (肇庆) is a prefecture-level city of Guangdong province in southern China. ... Gaoyao City (高要市) is a city in Guangdong province, in southern China. ... Sihui is a transportation node in Beijing. ... Special administrative region may be: Peoples Republic of China Special administrative regions, present-day administrative divisions (as of 2006) set up by the Peoples Republic of China to administer Hong Kong (since 1997) and Macau (since 1999) Republic of China Special administrative regions, also translated as special administrative...

Geographically and geologically speaking, Shenzhen and Hong Kong are not part of the PRD; however economically and culturally they are considered part of the PRD.

The eastern side of the PRD (Shenzhen, Dongguan, Guangzhou) is the most developed economically. The western areas (Zhuhai, Zhongshan, Jiangmen) are open for development. New transport links between Hong Kong, Macau and Zhuhai in the PRD are expected to open up new areas for development and facilitate trade within the region. The proposed 29-kilometre Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge will be among the longest in the world. Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge in relation to Lantau Island The Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge (港珠澳大橋) is a giant proposed bridge that would connect the west side of Hong Kong with Macau and the neighbouring city of Zhuhai, situated on the west side of the Pearl River Delta, and part...

Until approximately around 1985, the PRD had been mainly dominated by farms and small rural villages, but after the economy was reformed and opened, a flood of investment turned it into the mainland's economic powerhouse. The PRD's startling growth was fuelled by foreign investment coming largely from Hong Kong manufacturers that moved their operations into the PRD. In 2003, Hong Kong companies employed 11 million workers in their PRD operations. Farms, East of Gorgan, Iran. ... Masouleh village, Gilan Province, Iran. ...

Emergence of the economy

The Pearl River Delta has been the most economically dynamic region of the People's Republic of China since the launch of China’s reform programme in 1979. The region's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew from just over US$8 billion in 1980 to more than US$89 billion in 2000. During that period, the average real rate of GDP growth in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone exceeded 16 percent, well above the People’s Republic of China's national figure of under 10 percent. In 1991, almost 50% of foreign investment in China was in Guangdong, and 40% in the PRD. By 2001 its GDP rose to just over US$100 billion and it was experiencing an annual growth rate more than three percentage points above the national growth rate. The abundance of employment opportunities created a pool of wealthy, middle-income, professional consumers with an annual per capita income that puts them among China's wealthiest. Since the onset of China’s reform program, the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone has been the fastest growing portion of the fastest growing province in the fastest growing large economy in the world. In economics, the gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of the amount of the economic production of a particular territory in financial capital terms during a specific time period. ...

According to the 2000 national Census, the Zone had a population of 40.8 million people. Per capita income has been growing substantially in recent years, as have consumer expenditures.

Although the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone encompasses only 0.4 percent of the land area and only 3.2 percent of the 2000 Census population of mainland China, it accounted for 8.7 percent of GDP, 35.8 percent of total trade, and 29.2 percent of utilised foreign capital in 2001. These figures show the remarkable level of economic development that the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone has achieved and the international orientation of the region’s economy. This orientation has attracted numerous investors from all over the world who use the Greater Pearl River Delta region as a platform for serving global and Chinese markets. ... Capital has a number of related meanings in economics, finance and accounting. ...

Significance of Manufacturing

The Pearl River Delta has become the world's workshop and is a major manufacturing base for products such as electronic products (such as watches and clocks), toys, garments and textiles, plastic products, and a range of other goods. Much of this output is invested by foreign entities and is geared for the export market. The Pearl River Delta Economic Zone accounts for approximately one third of China's trade value. Electronics is the study of the flow of charge through various materials and devices such as, semiconductors, resistors, inductors, capacitors, nano-structures, and vacuum tubes. ... Russian Poljot Siberia model finished movement viewed through crystal back For other uses, see Watch (disambiguation). ... The massive clock on the Clock Tower of the Palace of Westminster, London (commonly known as Big Ben, although Big Ben is the bell inside - the picture is St Stephens Tower). ... A teddy bear A toy is an object used in play. ... (See also List of types of clothing) Introduction Humans often wear articles of clothing (also known as dress, garments or attire) on the body (for the alternative, see nudity). ... “fabric” redirects here. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

Private-owned enterprises have developed quickly in the Pearl River Delta Economic Zone and are playing an ever-growing role in the region's economy, particularly after year 2000 when the development environment for private-owned enterprises has been greatly relaxed.

Nearly five percent of the world's goods were produced in the Greater Pearl River Delta in 2001, with a total export value of US$ 289 billion. Over 50,000 Hong Kong companies have plants there, according to a 2002 survey.

Ties with Hong Kong

Prefectures in the Pearl River Delta have benefited from proximity to Hong Kong. Hong Kong has been the source of over 70 percent of the cumulative foreign direct investment in the region since 1979, or roughly eight times the investment of North America, Japan, and Europe combined. One reason Hong Kong has played such an important role is because it links the region with the rest of the world, handling 70 to 80 percent of its seaborne exports and an even greater percentage of its airborne exports. Invest redirects here. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... World map showing the location of Europe. ...

Hong Kong serves a distinct role as a place for firms to access the strength of the Greater Pearl River Delta region. Many western firms also use Hong Kong as a base for their Greater Pearl River Delta region activities, with senior managers often residing in Hong Kong. Hong Kong also serves as a principal location for the buying offices for companies doing business with the Greater Pearl River Delta region. Increasingly, savvy companies are developing Hong Kong/Greater Pearl River Delta strategies with their management, finance, communication, and coordination activities based in Hong Kong and their manufacturing activities in one or more of the jurisdictions of the Pearl River Delta.

While occupying an important position in the nation's economy, the PRD has also been a pioneer in reform and openness. Two of the original four Special Economic Zones (Shenzhen and Zhuhai) are located in the PRD, which allowed it to lead the way from a planned economy to a market economy. Having this "first mover advantage" in developing private enterprise, manufacturing capabilities and foreign trade, the PRD has drawn on its proximity with Hong Kong to become the manufacturing powerhouse of China. While the PRD offers a competitive market for companies to source or manufacture goods, Hong Kong provides logistic, financial, legal, design and marketing services that allow companies to export their products to rest of the world. A Special Economic Zone (SEZ) is a geographical region that has economic laws different from a countrys typical economic laws. ... Look up Logistics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Finance addresses the ways in which individuals, business entities and other organizations allocate and use monetary resources over time. ... This article is about law in society. ... All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ...

Pollution

The Pearl River Delta is notoriously polluted, with sewage and industrial waste facilities failing to keep pace with the growth in population and industry in the area. Much of the area is frequently covered with a brown smog. This has a strong effect on the pollution levels in Hong Kong. It has been suggested that Pollutant be merged into this article or section. ...

Pollution is perhaps one of the greatest risks to the Chinese White Dolphins that inhabit the area. Trinomial name Sousa chinensis chinensis The Chinese White Dolphin (中華白海豚) (Sousa chinensis chinensis) is a subspecies of the Indo-Pacific Hump-backed Dolphin and is one of eighty cetacean species. ...

On March 22, 2007 the World Bank approved a $96 million loan to the PRC government to reduce water pollution in the Pearl River Delta. See [1] March 22 is the 81st day of the year (82nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Logo of the World Bank The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, in Romance languages: BIRD), better known as the World Bank, is an international organization whose original mission was to finance the reconstruction of nations devastated by WWII. Now, its mission has expanded to fight poverty by means...

See also: Geography of China

China stretches some 5,026 kilometers across the East Asian landmass in an erratically changing configuration of broad plains, expansive deserts, and lofty mountain ranges, including vast areas of inhospitable terrain. ...

External links

• Business in Pearl River Delta
• Official tourism site: by Guangdong, Hong Kong, and Macau
• Images from Scientific Visualisation Studio at NASA
• Flash map
• Country-level locator map
• History
• Baidu Baike