South China's Guangdong province remained a prime destination for foreign investment during the beginning of the year, indicating that global enterprises continue to have a positive outlook on Guangdong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Zhu Xiaojun, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Commerce, said the global production base attracted 3,484 new foreign-funded enterprises with an actual foreign investment of 23.31 billion yuan ($3.21 billion) in the first two months, up 16.8 percent and 5.9 percent year-on-year, respectively.

According to Zhu, the growth outperforms the national average and major economic provinces, demonstrating Guangdong's strong foreign investment attraction and economic vitality.

The province has effectively helped promote multiple high-quality projects to increase capital and expand production since last May, with the help of a new round of foreign investment incentive policies, he said.

Zhu made the remarks at a news conference in the Guangdong provincial capital, Guangzhou, on Monday.

According to Zhu, Guangdong's manufacturing industry played an outsized role in growth, with used foreign investment valued at 7.41 billion yuan in January and February, a year-on-year increase of 34.5 percent, 28.6 percentage points higher than its overall growth rate.

The actual foreign investment attracted by the manufacturing industry accounted for 31.8 percent of the province's total, he added.

The actual use of foreign investment in the service industry reached 15.39 billion yuan, a year-on-year reduction of 4.3 percent and accounting for 66 percent of the total, Zhu said.

In January and February, the province attracted seven foreign-funded projects, with actual investment exceeding $100 million for each project, for a total actual foreign investment worth more than $1.5 billion.

Investment from developed countries and regions, including Europe, the US, Japan and South Korea, enjoyed a year-on-year growth of 52.2 percent, with investment from the European Union region growing by 70.4 percent and those from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations increasing by 45.2 percent, Zhu said.

The nine Guangdong cities in the GBA attracted an actual foreign investment of 21.55 billion yuan from January to February, a year-on-year increase of 6.9 percent and representing 92.4 percent of the province's total, Zhu said.

The nine cities include Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou, Jiangmen and Zhaoqing from the prosperous Pearl River Delta.

Source: Foreign Affairs Office of Guangzhou Municipal Government