The Pearl River Delta's push into the high-technology sector is ill-conceived, a mainland economist told a conference on the region's development on Tuesday.
Guangdong would fare better by building on its strength in export-oriented manufacturing, argued Wang Zhile, director of the foreign trade ministry's Research Centre on Transnational Corporations.
Mr Wang offered a rare dose of pragmatism at a time when even third and fourth-tier mainland cities are pouring funds into hi-tech parks.
He was responding to vice-mayors of Shenzhen and Zhuhai, who outlined their cities' hi-tech visions on the first day of the Pearl River Delta Conference.
Shenzhen is spending more than 100 billion yuan (about HK$93.7 billion) in the next five years to expand its hi-tech industry zone.
'I felt the mayors' speeches were at times not very pragmatic. It may not be that practical for everyone to jump on the hi-tech boat,' he said.
With China's World Trade Organisation accession last December opening up more sectors and further lowering tariffs, multinational companies increasingly see the country as a low-cost production centre for markets elsewhere.