Guangzhou Metro is the metro system of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province of China. It is operated by the state-owned Guangzhou Metro Corporation and was the fourth metro system to be built in mainland China, after those of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.
The earliest efforts to build an underground rapid transit system in Guangzhou date back to 1960. In the two decades that followed, the project was brought into the agenda five times, but ended up abandoned each time due to financial and technical difficulties. Preparation of what would lead to today's Guangzhou Metro did not start until the 1980s, and it was not until 1993 that construction of the first line, Line 1, officially began. Line 1 opened four years later in 1997 with five stations in operation.
, Guangzhou Metro has ten lines in operation, namely Line 1, Line 2, Line 3, Line 4, Line 5, Line 6, Line 7, Line 8, Guangfo Line, and Zhujiang New Town APM. A major portion of the metro system services the urban areas of the city, while Lines 2, 3 and 4 also reach into the suburban areas in Huadu, Baiyun District, Panyu and Nansha; Guangfo Line connects Guangzhou and Foshan and is the first metro line between two cities in the country. Daily service hours start at 6:00 am and end at midnight, and ridership averages 5.63 million. Having delivered 2.568 billion rides in 2016, Guangzhou Metro is the fourth busiest metro system in the world, after the metro systems of Beijing, Shanghai and Seoul. Guangzhou Metro operates 184 stations, including 24 interchange stations, and 260.5 km of lines.
Extensive development of the metro network has been planned for the decade of 2011–2020. Four new lines Line 9, Line 13, Line 14 and Line 21 and extensions of Line 4, Line 8 and Guangfo Line are already under construction and expected to be completed between 2017 and 2018. Total operational capacity is scheduled to exceed 600 km by 2020.