Guangzhou has had some favourable press recently with the opening of the new airport and the creation of the pan-Pearl River Delta (PPRD) alliance.
Together with the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (Cepa) and the outlook towards the 2010 Asian Games, optimism is high among the community.
But behind the headlines, the government is, more than ever, facing the challenge of ensuring growth is sustainable.
Twenty years after forging an economic miracle and despite recent urgings from the central government, the city's present-day leaders still seem devoted to gross domestic product numbers. Keeping growth at a breakneck pace remains a more urgent priority than looking at the quality of that growth. But this is not something that can be avoided forever.
It is understandable why large-scale projects have been fashionable. Aside from involving heavy investment, which beefs up GDP figures, they are visible proof for cadres to show superiors their performance within their set five-year terms. Thus there is the creation of prestige projects such as the Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Centre, the new name for University Town, which combines 10 different colleges on one campus.
But some analysts who look beyond the data are not impressed. 'With such fast growth, questions of efficiency, product quality, protection of intellectual property rights and the paucity of branded products are becoming more prominent than ever,' says Tan Zuoping, a retired economist based in Guangzhou.
Perhaps the most worrisome individual project from this standpoint is the development of Guangzhou's car industry. Since last year, the city has moved rapidly ahead by getting Toyota to join fellow Japanese giants Honda and Nissan in setting up manufacturing facilities.