GD supports SZ to pilot digital money use: Ma

Writer: SD-News  |  Editor: Holly Wang  |  From: Shenzhen Daily  |  Updated: 2021-01-25

Guangdong will support Shenzhen to become a pilot city for the use of digital yuan, Governor Ma Xingrui said yesterday.

The objective was set in an annex to the government work report delivered by Ma at the opening of the annual session of the provincial legislature in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, yesterday.

The province also intends to shape Shenzhen and Guangzhou into global consumption centers for shopping. No further details were available.

Guangdong, a major manufacturing hub in China, achieved a GDP growth of 2.3 percent year on year against the headwinds of the export-oriented economy caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Ma.

Its GDP surpassed the 11-trillion-yuan (US$1.7 trillion) mark in 2020 for the first time, ranking No. 1 for the 32nd consecutive year among all Chinese provincial-level regions in terms of economic output. The number was equivalent to that of South Korea.

With a better outlook, Guangdong sets its GDP growth rate for 2021 at more than 6 percent.

Guangdong recorded 7.08 trillion yuan of foreign trade last year, also ranking first in the country.

Ma said the province will vigorously develop the digital economy and promote the development of AI, the semiconductor industry and seed technology. China has been attaching more importance to the seed industry to ensure food security.

The construction of an international science and technology innovation center in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) will be sped up. Benchmarking the world’s major science centers and innovation highlands, Guangdong will promote the construction of a comprehensive national science center in the GBA.

Starting from Saturday, the annual sessions of the province’s advisory body and lawmaking body opened in succession, which will map out plans for Guangdong’s development for the next five years.