Guangzhou, abbreviated as "Sui", is also known as the City of RAMS and the City of Flowers. It is the capital of Guangdong Province, a sub-provincial city, a national central city, a megacity, and the core city of the Guangzhou Metropolitan Area. It has been approved by The State Council as an important central city, an international trade center, and a comprehensive transportation hub in China.

Guangzhou is located in southern China, at the lower reaches of the Pearl River and bordering the South China Sea. It is the headquarters of the Southern Theater Command of China, a national logistics hub, a national comprehensive gateway city and an international comprehensive transportation hub. As one of the first batch of coastal open cities, it serves as the southern gateway to the world for China, a central city in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the Pan-Pearl River Delta Economic Zone, and a hub city along the Belt and Road Initiative.

Guangzhou is one of the first batch of national historical and cultural cities and the birthplace of Guangfu culture. Since the Qin Dynasty, it has been the seat of a prefecture, state and prefectural government, and the political, military, economic, cultural and scientific and educational center of South China. Since the 3rd century AD, it has been the main port of the Maritime Silk Road. During the Tang and Song Dynasties, it became the largest port in China and a world-renowned port city in the East. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it was the only major port for foreign trade in China and also the only one in the world that has remained prosperous for over two thousand years.

Guangzhou has been 

rated as a world first-tier city by the global authoritative institution GaWC. The China Import and Export Fair held every year attracts a large number of merchants as well as investments from a large number of foreign-funded enterprises and Fortune 500 companies. In 2017, it ranked second on the Forbes list of the best business cities in Chinese mainland. It ranks third on the list of China's top 100 cities. In 2018, Guangzhou ranked first in China in terms of the Human Development Index and third in the National Central City Index.