China's economic powerhouse Guangdong reports robust GDP growth in 2021

South China's Guangdong Province recorded 8-percent GDP growth in 2021 to 12.4 trillion yuan (about 1.95 trillion U.S. dollars), its acting governor Wang Weizhong said Thursday.

Dongguan has become the fourth city in Guangdong, whose economic aggregates exceeded one trillion yuan, following Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Foshan, Wang said while delivering a government work report at the annual session of the provincial legislature.

The province's foreign trade surpassed 8 trillion yuan last year, a year-on-year increase of 16.7 percent, according to the report.

Guangdong, a manufacturing heartland and leading foreign trade player in the country, has strengthened its strategy of science and technology and reinforced the foundation of high-quality economic development, according to the government report.

The province is targeting an economic growth of about 5.5 percent this year, Wang said.