Guangzhou is the capital city of the Guangdong Province of China. The city is situated on the Pearl River delta near the South China Sea. It covers an area of 7,434 square kilometres and has a population of 4.9 million people. It has long been one of China's ports of foreign trade and friendly exchanges. The past decade has seen great economic achievements in the city thanks to the policy of reform and opening to the outside world which was first carried out in Guangdong. Now the city has become a well-known industrial city.