On August 12, the county-level city of Conghua was formally changed into Conghua District, which became a new member of the districts of Guangzhou. Covering an area of 1,974.5 square kilometers, the new Conghua District became the largest new area of Guangzhou. The area under the jurisdiction of Guangzhou reaches 7,434.4 square kilometers, larger than that of Shanghai (6,340.5 square kilometers).

 

This will help Guangzhou further promote the development of city, optimize allocation of resources and realize overall regional development. With the support of the vast land and abundant resources in Conghua, the competitiveness of Guangzhou as a national central city will be greatly improved. At the same time, under the overall planning of Guangzhou, the advantages of Conghua in resources, late-mover development, industrial development, culture and location will be given full play so that the new district will win initiatives for its development in the future.

 

Last February, the plan of Guangzhou for adjustment of administrative division was approved by the State Council. In accordance with the plan, Huangpu District and Luogang District will be merged into the new Huangpu District; the county-level cities of Conghua and Zengcheng will be changed into districts; then, the original administration division of 10 districts and two cities (county-level cities) of Guangzhou will be changed into the one of 11 districts. Regional expert Ding Li believes that, with the transformation of the county-level cities of Zengcheng and Conghua into districts, most of the tasks for the adjustment of administrative division of Guangzhou have been fulfilled. The new urban layout of Guangzhou marks that Guangzhou has stepped into a new stage for the construction of national central city.

 

Source: excerpts from Nanfang Daily, August 13, 2015