As the South Gate of China, Guangdong has been opining to the outside world for a long time. In Deng Xiaoping's inspired policy of 1978, three special economic zones, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Shantou were created. Since then, Guangzhou, Zhanjiang, the Zhujiang (Pearl River) Delta areas and the whole coastal regions, amounting to more than 100 ports, have been opened. This has resulted in a rapid development of industry. The agricultural sector which is concentrated in the production of rice and fruit growing and fishing, has also grown rapidly the collective farm policy was abandoned in the early 80s.

Containerized export is very important: ocean-going ships can travel from Guangzhou or Zhanjiang to South East Asia, Africa, Europe and America, and more than 40 ports in Shanghai , Dalian, Tianjin, Qingdao, Nantong, Ningbo, Yantai, Fuzhou, Xiamen, Wenzhou and Beihai. Moreover Guangdong is one of the few provinces in China where the highways have been developed into a viable network serving the whole province. There are four railways: Beijiang to Guangzhou, Guangzhou to Jiulong, Guangzhou to Maoming and Litang to Zhanjiang.

Air travel is also developing rapidly to link Guangzhou to the rest of China. There are airports in Guangzhou, Zhanjing, Shantou, Zhuhai, Shenzhen, Foshan, Huizhou, Wuhua, Meixian and Yangjian and more than ten international airlines have flights into Guangdong.