Cai Yingbo

    ALTHOUGH the global financial crisis has greatly battered the Pearl River Delta (PRD) economy, the region is still attracting European investors, according to a report by the European Union Chamber of Commerce released Tuesday.

    In 2008, foreign direct investment in the Pearl River Delta totaled US$19.167 billion, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen receiving about 2.4 billion euros (US$3.48 billion) each.

    The gross domestic product of the PRD area was 3.569 trillion yuan (US$522.77 billion) in 2008, a 250-fold increase since 1980, said Alberto Vettoretti, chairman of the European Union Chamber of Commerce’s PRD board. The delta area accounted for more than 20 percent of total Chinese exports.

    Vettoretti said there are about 1,700 European enterprises in Guangdong Province. A total of 9,506 new foreign investment applications were approved in Guangdong in 2007, with investment totaling 17.12 billion yuan.

    More than 60,000 companies in Guangdong went out of business in 2008, and millions of workers lost their jobs, according to previous official statistics. That led to a drop in exports of 20.5 percent and in imports of 28.7 percent during the first four months of 2009 as compared with the same period in 2008.

    Vettoretti said that in the short run, the global recession will negatively affect the growth of the PRD, but the long run should be more positive.

    “The PRD is still attractive for European companies because sustainable development and environmental protection have been seen as important by PRD city governments, and many well-known European multinational corporations opened production sites in the PRD because the region is focusing on developing the high-tech sector,” said Vettoretti.

    Guangzhou is increasingly recognized by European companies as the third most important base for marketing and sales operations in China after Shanghai and Beijing.

    Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan, however, are expected to become more and more popular because in April the cities were selected to conduct a pilot program for use of the yuan as international settlement currency. This step toward internationalization of the yuan allows for more control over currency risks, the chamber of commerce said.