- Known for its silk and exports trade
- For various periods in history, e.g. in Qing Dynasty and in the PRC
before thereform, China's exports trade was conducted primarily
through Guangzhou, the primal city of south China
- The Opium War (1840-42) was a testimony to Guangzhou's primacy
in external trade in Imperial China - substantial variations both in terms
of physical geography and in terms of culture (such as language) and
type of economic activities engaged existed between places within the
Delta region
a. The ceding of Macau and Hong Kong
b. Open Door Policy, 1978
- The Spread Effects of China's
Coastal Cities
- The first region in China to open
to the rest of the world after the
1978 reform, reflecting the region's
history and its proximity to Hong
Kong (and to a much lesser extent
Macau)
c. Special Economic Zones, 1979
d. Fourteen Coastal Cities, 1984- Site of special economic zones (SZE) (1979) to attract foreign capital
and to act as a window through which China can learn from the outside
world. Two of the four SZE set up in 1979 were located in PRD.
- Shenzhen: bordering Hong Kong. China's largest SZE until 1988(when
the entire Hainan Island was designated as a special economic zone)
- Zhuhai: bordering Macau
- Guangzhou was one of 14 coastal open cities designated in
Qinhuangdao Lianyungang Fozhou Tianjing Nantong Guangzhou Dalian Shanghai Zhanjiang Qindao Ningbo Beihai Yantai Wenzhou
e. Zhujiang Delta Economic Development Zone, 1985
f. Zhujiang Delta Open Economic Zone, 1987 
g. Zhujiang Delta Economic Zone, 1994 
