Shenzhen

Guangzhou

Shenzhen (; Chinese: 深圳; Mandarin pronunciation: [ʂə́n.ʈʂə̂n] ) is a major city in the Chinese province of Guangdong; it forms part of the Pearl River Delta megalopolis, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Huizhou to the northeast, and Dongguan to the northwest. It holds sub-provincial administrative status, with powers slightly less than those of a province. Shenzhen's cityscape results from its vibrant economy - made possible by rapid foreign investment following the institution of the policy of "reform and opening-up" in 1979. The city is a leading global technology hub, dubbed by media as the next Silicon Valley and China's Silicon Valley. It was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world in the 1990s and the 2000s, and has been ranked second on the list "top 10 cities to visit in 2019" by Lonely Planet.Shenzhen, which roughly follows the administrative boundaries of Bao'an County, officially became a city in 1979, taking its name from the former county town, whose train station was the last stop on the Mainland Chinese section of the railway between Canton and Kowloon. In 1980, Shenzhen was established as China's first special economic zone. Shenzhen's registered population as of 2017 was estimated at 12,905,000. However, local police and authorities estimate the actual population to be about 20 million, due to large populations of short-term residents, unregistered floating migrants, part-time residents, commuters, visitors, as well as other temporary residents.Shenzhen hosts the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous multinational companies such as JXD, Vanke, Hytera, CIMC, SF Express, Shenzhen Airlines, Nepstar, Hasee, Ping An Bank, Ping An Insurance, China Merchants Bank, Tencent, ZTE, Huawei, DJI and BYD. Shenzhen ranks 14th in the 2019 Global Financial Centres Index. It has one of the busiest container ports in the world.

Guangzhou (Chinese: 广州; Cantonese pronunciation: [kʷɔ̌ːŋ.tsɐ̂u] or [kʷɔ̌ːŋ.tsɐ́u] ; Mandarin pronunciation: [kwàŋ.ʈʂóu] ), also known as Canton and formerly romanized as Kwangchow or Kwong Chow, is the capital and most populous city of the province of Guangdong in southern China. On the Pearl River about 120 km (75 mi) north-northwest of Hong Kong and 145 km (90 mi) north of Macau, Guangzhou has a history of over 2,200 years and was a major terminus of the maritime Silk Road, and continues to serve as a major port and transportation hub, as well as one of China's three largest cities.Guangzhou is at the heart of the most-populous built-up metropolitan area in mainland China that extends into the neighboring cities of Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan and Shenzhen, forming one of the largest urban agglomerations on the planet. Administratively, the city holds sub-provincial status and is one of China's nine National Central Cities. At the end of 2018, the population of the city's expansive administrative area is estimated at 14,904,400 by city authorities, up 3.8% year from the previous year. Guangzhou is ranked as an Alpha global city. There is a rapidly increasing number of foreign temporary residents and immigrants from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and Africa. This has led to it being dubbed the "Capital of the Third World".The domestic migrant population from other provinces of China in Guangzhou was 40% of the city's total population in 2008. Together with Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen, Guangzhou has one of the most expensive real estate markets in China. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, nationals of sub-Saharan Africa who had initially settled in the Middle East and other parts of Southeast Asia moved in unprecedented numbers to Guangzhou in response to the 1997/98 Asian financial crisis.Long the only Chinese port accessible to most foreign traders, Guangzhou fell to the British during the First Opium War. No longer enjoying a monopoly after the war, it lost trade to other ports such as Hong Kong and Shanghai, but continued to serve as a major entrepôt. In modern commerce, Guangzhou is best known for its annual Canton Fair, the oldest and largest trade fair in China. For three consecutive years (2013–2015), Forbes ranked Guangzhou as the best commercial city in mainland China.