Guangdong province reported its first-quarter economic data on April 21, revealing a regional GDP of 3.495034 trillion yuan. Calculated at constant prices, this represents a year-on-year increase of 4.6%. This growth rate marks the highest first-quarter performance in nearly five years, significantly exceeding the full-year growth of 3.9% in the previous year. It also falls within the primary target range of 4.5% to 5% set at the beginning of the year. Overall, Guangdong's major macroeconomic indicators have shown accelerated growth this year, indicating a continued recovery and positive trend in the economy, resulting in a strong start.
Industrial production grew rapidly. The value added of Guangdong's industrial enterprises above the designated size increased by 5.4% year-on-year in the first quarter, a growth rate 2.4 percentage points higher than the full-year figure for the previous year. The services sector maintained stable growth, with its value added rising by 4.5% year-on-year. Total retail sales of consumer goods grew by 2.5%, a rate higher than the national average.
Furthermore, fixed-asset investment in Guangdong continued to grow in the first quarter, with infrastructure investment showing particularly rapid expansion. Fixed-asset investment increased by 0.2% year-on-year, maintaining positive growth for two consecutive months. Excluding real estate development, fixed-asset investment across the province grew by 5.8%, while investment in internet and related services surged by 524.0%.
Analysis suggests that Guangdong's economic growth in the first quarter exhibited a structural recovery. Signals of this acceleration are evident across numerous key sectors. Structurally, while the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size rebounded, new quality productive forces are developing rapidly. The investment structure has also shown significant divergence, with innovation-related investment continuing to increase even as real estate development investment declines. From a sectoral perspective, the profound impact of artificial intelligence on the economy is beginning to materialize, with new fields and technologies demonstrating rapid growth on both the supply and demand sides.
The investment structure is improving. On April 20, the first "Hualong One" nuclear power unit in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Unit 1 of the CGN Guangdong Taipingling Nuclear Power Project, commenced commercial operation. The unit is expected to generate over 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually. The Taipingling project plans to construct a total of six "Hualong One" units, representing a total investment exceeding 120 billion yuan. This project exemplifies the infrastructure projects commissioned in Guangdong this year.
Excluding real estate development investment, Guangdong's fixed-asset investment grew by 5.8% in the first quarter. By sector, infrastructure investment increased by 10.5%, maintaining double-digit growth for two consecutive months and accelerating by 18.7 percentage points compared to the full previous year. Within this, investment in the production and supply of electric power and heat grew by 12.0%. Unlike previous infrastructure investment cycles, this year's focus in Guangdong is primarily on railway construction in the less developed eastern, western, and northern regions, as well as new infrastructure projects like power facilities and computing power.
The most notable feature of Guangdong's first-quarter investment situation is the pronounced structural divergence. Despite the modest 0.2% overall growth in fixed-asset investment, certain sectors experienced explosive growth. This is a typical manifestation of the accelerated transition between old and new growth drivers. During this period, many of Guangdong's high-growth investment figures are closely linked to the integrated layout of AI computing power and digital infrastructure. The investment structure is continuously optimizing, with resources accelerating their aggregation towards new growth drivers and sectors.
Currently, the computing power center of the Shaoguan data center cluster already hosts over 4,000 high-power cabinets and more than 30 server rooms across four buildings, with an electricity consumption equivalent to that of a small county. In the first quarter, Guangdong's total electricity consumption reached 201.221 billion kilowatt-hours, a year-on-year increase of 7.57%, outperforming the national growth rate of 5.2%. This signifies a transition from traditional heavy industry to a digital economy.
The massive growth in computing power and power investments outlines a broader picture of sustained, high-level investment in Guangdong's "AI Plus" domain. The first-quarter economic data reflects this directly: investment in internet and related services surged by 524.0% year-on-year. Industrial investment grew by 1.4%, an acceleration of 15.8 percentage points. This trend is consistent across cities. A review of investment situations in the Pearl River Delta cities shows that the largest-scale projects are predominantly in artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, and high-end equipment.
Since the first quarter, the construction of the second-phase factory of Microgate Technology, a 3-billion-yuan investment, has entered its final冲刺 stage, with its high-capacity products steadily gaining volume in the global AI server market. This year, planning will simultaneously commence for a third-phase factory with a total investment of 5 billion yuan. Upon completion, Microgate Technology's total production capacity is expected to challenge 1.2 trillion pieces, aiming to rank among the top three globally in the MLCC industry.
Nationally, investment vitality in the AI sector is very strong in the first quarter. Particularly, investment in digital infrastructure, represented by computing power, is progressing steadily, while investment in leading technologies like artificial intelligence is accelerating noticeably. This not only provides strong support for stable growth in annual investment scale but also solidifies the foundation and accumulates momentum for the intelligent economy. From this perspective, Guangdong possesses a robust base for seizing the high ground in artificial intelligence and the digital economy.
This is evident not only in investment but also in impressive data from the supply side. In the first quarter, new quality productive forces developed rapidly in Guangdong. The value added of advanced manufacturing and high-tech manufacturing increased by 7.0% and 11.9% respectively, accounting for 56.7% and 34.8% of the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size. In terms of specific products, the output of industrial robots, 3D printing equipment, integrated circuits, and storage chips surged by 45.2%, 63.6%, 43.1%, and 32.0% respectively. This explosive growth in high-end product output indicates that new quality productive forces have become the main engine of Guangdong's industrial growth. Structurally, the faster-growing fields are largely related to artificial intelligence.
The integration of manufacturing and services is accelerating. The commercial and large-scale application of artificial intelligence has achieved phased breakthroughs in Guangdong, and its ripple effects are further extending to various industries. This assessment is being validated in the practices of major enterprises across the province. Companies are evolving. For instance, a leading LED display manufacturer in Guangdong is transitioning from being a pure hardware manufacturer to a comprehensive ecosystem solution provider offering "AI+" services, answering the call for traditional manufacturing transformation by using AI+ and immersive experiences to upgrade displays into intelligent interactive terminals.
As the new wave of technological revolution intertwines with industrial transformation, the boundary between manufacturing and services is increasingly blurring, giving rise to service-oriented manufacturing across Guangdong. AI technology, as a disruptive enabling tool, is becoming key to breaking down the inherent boundaries between manufacturing and services and promoting their mutual integration. In the first quarter, the value added of Guangdong's services sector grew by 4.5% year-on-year. By category, operating revenue in information transmission, software and IT services; leasing and business services; and scientific research and technical services grew rapidly, by 7.5%, 9.2%, and 16.3% respectively. Within this, operating revenue for software and IT services, and internet and related services grew by 9.9% and 7.8% respectively.
The data shows that Guangdong's producer services and advanced manufacturing are actually growing at high speeds in sync. Analyzing this alongside the growth of new quality productive forces products like industrial robots, 3D printers, integrated circuits, and chips, it is clear that the linkage between Guangdong's services sector, especially producer services, and the real economy is strengthening. This synergistic effect has allowed Guangdong's economy to achieve a good start in terms of both stability and progress in the first quarter.
In terms of stability, the value added of industrial enterprises above the designated size grew by 5.4%. The AI wave drove rapid growth in the electronics sector, with the manufacture of computers, communication equipment, and other electronic devices maintaining double-digit growth at 13.4%, contributing 3.6 percentage points to the overall industrial growth and accounting for over 60% of the contribution rate. In foreign trade, exports of integrated circuits, lithium-ion batteries, and ships increased by 63.4%, 65.5%, and 70.7% respectively.
In terms of progress, the value added of information transmission, software and IT services, and leasing and business services all grew by over 7% in the first quarter. The output of integrated circuits and storage chips, directly related to AI production and application, experienced explosive growth. Under this synergistic effect, numerous manufacturing enterprises are extending into the high end of the value chain, embedding services like R&D design, solutions, and operational maintenance throughout the product lifecycle. This enables a transition from being product suppliers to comprehensive service providers, opening new growth space through service value-added.
For example, while making 3D printers accessible to the public, one tech company also built the world's largest 3D model community, evolving from solving the technical challenge of "how to print" to creating an ecological closed loop for "what to print." From another perspective, AI now equips the services sector with the capability to empower manufacturing on a large scale. Leveraging AI technology, many entrepreneurial geeks have entered the fray with one-person companies, providing software, hardware, and other producer services to manufacturers. One such entrepreneur founded an AI-powered styling platform with a two-person team, yet the company's capital valuation has reached 50 million yuan. Initially created to help apparel companies in key manufacturing hubs manage inventory, the platform now serves enterprises across the Greater Bay Area and beyond.
The coordinated development of these two sectors—manufacturing and services—is a key proposition for high-quality development. Guangdong's High-Quality Development Conference this year focused on this synergy, and an action plan for 2026 was released in March. Analysis suggests that Guangdong must continue to vigorously promote the "AI Plus" initiative, break down industrial boundaries to foster new business formats, and better amplify the combined advantages of its advanced manufacturing and modern services sectors. This requires the government to build robust infrastructure and provide sound investment and financial services to further optimize and upgrade Guangdong's economic structure.