Guangdong Province of China hosts the largest number of expatriates and foreign working populations among the regions of the vast country.

For the region, it is a long history of openness to the world. In the past, commerce and maritime business attracted the rest of the world because even during the gloomy 10 years of the Cultural Revolution, only the Nansha Port of Guangzhou was open to world commerce.

Visiting Guangdong again, the third time in June, opened my eyes even more to the allure and economic treasure trove the region is, and its importance not only to China, but to the world, Africa and indeed to Nigeria.

Its location by the Pearl River and just across from Hong Kong was impacted by the spillover of Hong Kong’s international commerce of Hong Kong.

Today, the history of acceptance of the world is written in bolder letters because China’s international commerce is pivoted on Guangdong and its capital city, the ancient and modern City of Guangzhou.

To the average Nigerian or African, when they hear you say you are travelling to China, you actually mean that you are travelling to Guangzhou. On arriving in the city, you will know better why Africans equate China with this city of 19 million people.

Spine of the Chinese Economy

With the commencement of China’s economic reforms in Guangdong, precisely, the city of Shenzhen that rose from a fishing village of 3,000 native fishing families to a world-class city of 15 million people within 30 years, you will understand how important the region is to China.

If Guangdong were a country, it would have been among the top 12 economies, with its GDP that is an equivalent of that of Canada. In 2016, after I left the Hangzhou G20 Summit, I went to Guangzhou, and at a parley with the director of the foreign affairs office, he joked that if the province were a country, it would be a member of the G20.

Human population also favours the amazing Guangdong, with its 128 million population, the largest of any province in China.

Its blossoming economy in the major cities, including Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Dongguan, Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhongshan, forms the hub of China’s high-tech and manufacturing heartbeat.

A wonderful infrastructure and connectivity between these cities keep the economy on an endless roll of progress. Shenzhen has acquired the reputation of being the tech hub of China and the city with the highest volume of tech patents in the world. Its other reputation is for the design and manufacturing of drones and wristwatches with the patents of the big Swiss brands of Switzerland.

Shenzhen has become a city with a global reputation for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), simply known as drones, with prominent brands such as DJI, AEE, Shenzhen Damoda, AutoFlight, EHang, etc leading thousands of others.

From Shenzhen to Guangzhou, a distance of 125km to 130km is an endless bridge, partly the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Bridge, with some 7km tunnel underwater. The maze and interlock of bridges in all directions define the modern character of China, especially around this impossible topography in China’s delta region. What would have been an impossible region to live in due to the natural challenges has been transformed into a wondrous infrastructure cluster that, on its own, has become a tourist attraction to witness modernity.

These amazing constructions had a pep to them in June 2018, when the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge of 55km, the world’s longest sea-crossing bridge, was opened. I witnessed, had a chat with the chief engineer who supervised the project, and also reported on that landmark engineering marvel. A journey of hours between these ends was reduced to a little more than 30 minutes, driving through the bridge.

The growth was China’s deliberate policy to elevate the Pearl River Delta (PRD) bay into a mega economic hub, fusing it with Hong Kong, the other side of China that, over the ages, carved a reputation as a global economic hub.

The PRD bay boasts the Nansha Seaport of Guangzhou, the only deep-water container terminal in the region. It is a major connecting port for international trade between the hinterland of China and the rest of the world. Its location on the island of Longxue is never a challenge, given the awesome road connectivity via the 12.9 km Nansha Bridge linking it to the main city.

With its current fifth expansion phase, the port is to upgrade to a capacity of 35 million TEUs. During my visit to the facility in September 2016, the management said that it is China’s port that receives the largest exports from African countries, and that 30% of the imports from Africa come from the Lagos Apapa ports.

BYD, Huawei, ZTE, Tencent

In 2025, the combined earnings of Huawei, the world’s ultimate tech company; BYD, the number one new energy manufacturer; and Tencent, the tech company that gave the world QQ and WeChat, were $343 billion or RMB2.43 trillion. That is like the entire GDP of Nigeria.

These three giants alone are enough to make Guangdong big. But even though they are big world-class brands, they form just a tip of the iceberg for an economy of $1.2 trillion GDP.

Interestingly, these three giants are clustered in Shenzhen, the city founded in April 1980, the spot where China flagged off its Reforms and Opening Up. At a popular Shenzhen waterfront overlooking Hong Kong stands the image of Yuan Geng, one of the architects of China’s economic reform in Shenzhen. The epitaph at the base of the statue credits him with creating the original idea, which Deng Xiaoping, the leader who turned China around, bought into. Yuan later founded major companies of today, such as Ping An Insurance, CIMC, and China Merchants Bank, among others.

In 1988, Ren Zhongfei, the visionary mind that brought Huawei into being, joined him in making Shenzhen a more fertile economic spot. The two were later joined by Pony Ma, the man who founded Tencent in 1998 at 27. The company’s success raised Ma to become one of the richest men in China, especially after it became a publicly quoted company in 2004.

After BYD (Build Your Dream) came into being in 1995 as a small startup in electronics, especially rechargeable batteries supplying Nokia, Motorola, Apple, etc, it exploded in fortunes in 2003 when it ventured into automobile production, and today, the world’s largest new energy automobile manufacturer. As the dice started rolling faster for the wonder company, it attracted the attention of Warren Buffett, who invested $230 million into the project to acquire a 10% shareholding. With its microchip production to power its innovative products, in 2025, BYD beat the US rivals to stand as the world’s largest new energy vehicle manufacturer and seller.

Having visited Huawei twice in 2016 and 2018, Tencent, and later BYD in June, I testify as an eyewitness that Shenzhen, and indeed Guangdong, have what it takes to stand strong. The creativity of their products would blow your imagination away.

Little Africa in China

The city of Guangzhou and the province are already known to accommodate Africans, among other foreigners.

They are found mainly around Xiaobei and Guangyuanxi in the Yuexiu District.

Guangzhou is just beyond the nesting place for Africans in China. It is the most favourite spot for them in the entire Asian continent, and there are reasons for that.

During my discussion with Mr. He Rusheng, Director of the Foreign Affairs Office, as we visited the provincial government office on Xiamen Island, he appreciated the good relationship between Nigerians and Africans and his city, which prefers to be in Guangzhou and Guangdong above other parts of the country.

The blossoming China-Africa trade, which is on steady growth, has its hub in Guangdong and the capital city mainly. Stepping into any of the markets proves the position right. Taking a flight out of China from Baiyun Airport in Guangzhou or arriving makes the claim indisputable. The airport looks like one in Africa with the large number of African businesspeople moving their goods to fly, or coming in for business.

Even the universities in the city and the province have Africans in good numbers. One of the attractions Africans, especially West Africans, have for the city, aside from business, is the weather, which is close to that of sub-Saharan Africa, with very little winter cold and a tropical climate. This natural factor feels welcoming to them, and they have created a niche for themselves by doing business in this city. Any of the retail markets, factories, and other business places you visit in the province have a good presence of Africans and other foreigners doing business.

Old Shenzhen

Knowing China is also knowing the value of history and preservation of the past. China doesn’t move forward by deleting yesterday. To this country, inching forward means elevating yesterday while targeting and projecting for a bigger tomorrow. They create tomorrow from preserved yesterday.

In its youngest city, Shenzhen, the same is repeated.

Whereas Beijing boasts of the ancient relics of thousands of years ago, just as many other cities do, Shenzhen has already started preserving yesterday. As the government pushed forward with the new mega city in its sights, it still preserved the spot for the natives – those 3,000 original villagers.

A visit to Old Shenzhen brought back memories of what was and what may be expected tomorrow. Being there completed the cycle for me and made me adopt the signage at the airport arrivals that screams – ‘Once in Shenzhen, Forever a Shenzhener.’ I think I immediately admitted that I had become an entrenched Shenzhener when I saw the old that gave rise to the shiny new at my third visit.

Canton Fair for the world

The world knows Guangzhou for the famous Canton Fair, the reputed largest trade fair in the world, but the city is much more than that, with its numerous selling points.

Next year, the fair will be 70 years old, and has hosted millions of manufacturers, exhibitors, buyers, tourists, media, and researchers. In each of the major exhibitions that take place in summer and autumn, over 500,000 converge in this expansive spot to trade and exchange wealth.

Our visit was a testament to the boom that happens here, especially with the array of world leaders who have visited and keep visiting. Our visit coincided with the ceramic fair, which hosted over 300 exhibitors in ceramic production machines, techniques, and modern equipment. Even though it was an off-season exhibition, it still had the allure of the international renown this spot has maintained over the past 69 years. Our tour guides explained that the Canton Fair is preparing for its 70th anniversary, which will be held during the summer event next year, and they promise to make it big in the spirit of the group’s logo of the group, a bee. Choosing the bee as the logo made all the meaning with the old adage ‘as busy as the bee.’ That signifies not only how busy the Canton Fair is, but also how productive it is, with valuable, quality, and tangible product as the honey. The network of the beehive is also significant for interchange and interconnectivity among the businesses that go on a roll at the Canton Fair. While some other business activities skid and bump in the city, the Canton Fair has become its emblem and renown.

Guangzhou’s landmark is also the Canton Tower, at the city centre, where skyscrapers compete for height in the skyline, an indicator of the volume of mega-business that thrives in the city.

From the upscale to the ancient Guangzhou, down to the historic places such as the ancient downtown, where sits the family home of legendary Bruce Lee, that has been turned into a tourism hub, this city wows visitors. Even on my third visit, I saw more of Guangzhou than I did earlier.

Economic bond with Nigeria

Among the African international businesspeople who swarm the factories and markets of Guangzhou and Guangdong, Nigerians make up the majority.

It is little wonder that even in Nigeria, Guangdong and its capital city have a lot of economic impact.

Back home, the GAC (Guangzhou Automobile Company) car brand has become a common sight. This is powered by Ms. Diana Chen, one of the major Chinese investors in Nigeria. Chen’s GAC assembly plant in Ikeja, Lagos, is one of the major additions to Nigeria’s automobile manufacturing. GAC sold over 11,000 cars in Nigeria in 2025, providing a quality and affordable alternative to the traditional Japanese, German, and US car brands in the Nigerian market. It is the product that powers the Lagos State taxi initiative -Lagride.

More to that, Ogun Guangdong Free Trade Zone in Igbesa, Ogun State is one of the largest industrial clusters in Nigeria with over 110 manufacturing outfits valued at more than $2 billion and creating employment for more than 10,000 direct hands and another 20,000 indirect opportunities. The manufacturing volume contributes to 9.2% of Chinese investments value of Nigeria’s industrial GDP.

The volume of trade between Nigeria and Guangdong in goods, shipping, and services is in millions of dollars annually, making this region of China a most important factor in the Nigerian economy.