If Guangdong were a country, governor Lu Ruihua would preside over one of the region's most populous nations. Excluding Japan, Guangdong would also rank as the Asia-Pacific region's second-largest recipient of foreign direct investment (FDI) and its seventh-largest exporter.
Nor do the flattering comparisons stop there.
'The total gross domestic product of Guangdong province is on a par with Israel's, higher than Egypt's, and about one-third of India's,' Mr Lu said.
'Guangdong's exports and imports are expected to reach US$160 billion this year, equivalent to Russia's foreign trade and double India's,' he added.
Within China, Mr Lu noted, Guangdong accounts for 10 per cent of national GDP. In 1978 Guangdong's GDP was 18.6 billion yuan (about HK$17.42 billion), or 5 per cent of the national total. Since then, the province's GDP has increased at an average annual rate of 13.8 per cent and is expected to reach 940 billion yuan this year.
Guangdong's 40 per cent share of China's foreign trade is even more disproportionate, considering it accounts for only 5.8 per cent of the country's population. Moreover, it is only within the past 10 years that Guangdong's share of China's exports has more than doubled, from 17 per cent in 1990 to 40 per cent last year.
Much of Guangdong's export surge has been fuelled by foreign-invested enterprises, which now account for more than half of the province's total exports.