Guangdong Statistical Yearbook 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the Yearbook) is an annual statistical publication, which reflects comprehensively the economic and social development of Guangdong Province. It covers data for 2008 and key statistical data in some historically important years since 1978 at the provincial level and the local levels of city, county and district.
    The Yearbook contains twenty-two chapters: 1. Administrative Division and Natural Resources; 2. General Survey; 3. National Economic Accounts; 4. Population; 5. Employment and Wages; 6. Investment in Fixed Assets; 7. Energy; 8. Government Finance, Banking and Insurance; 9. Price Indices; 10. People’s Livelihood; 11. Agriculture; 12. Industry; 13. Construction; 14. Transport, Postal and Telecommunication Services; 15. Domestic Trade; 16. Foreign Trade; 17. Tourism; 18. Education, Science, Technology and Culture; 19. Sports, Public Health, Social Welfare, Environmental Protection and Others; 20. Major Economic Regions; 21. Cities; 22. Counties (County-level Cities) and Districts. Meanwhile, five chapters are listed as appendices: 1. Main Statistical Indicators of Some Provinces and Municipalities; 2. Main Statistical Indicators of Nine Provinces and Autonomous Regions in the Pan Pearl River Delta; 3. Main Statistics of Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions; 4. Main Statistical Indicators of Taiwan Province; 5. Main Statistics of Some Countries and Territories.
    The following revisions have been made in the Yearbook in terms of the statistical contents and in editing:
    1. For some areas of 2008, the data of National Economic Census replaces those of annual reports. Since the data of National Economic Census are not yet available, the data on such areas of 2008 come from flash reports, or remain blank when flash reports are not available. Notes on such situations are given in relevant columns.
    2. In chapters where tables are classified by city, data of four major economic regions are added, namely, the Pearl River Delta Region, the East Wing Region, the West Wing Region and the Mountainous Region. The Pearl River Delta Region includes nine cities: Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Jiangmen, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Huizhou and Zhaoqing. The East Wing Region includes four cities: Shantou, Shanwei, Chaozhou and Jieyang. The West Wing Region includes three cities: Zhanjiang, Maoming and Yangjiang. The Mountainous Region includes five cities: Shaoguan, Heyuan, Meizhou, Qingyuan and Yunfu.
    3. In the chapter of Energy, the data on energy consumption per unit of GDP, electricity consumption per unit of GDP and energy consumption per unit of industrial value-added are added.
    The data in the Yearbook are mainly obtained from regular statistical reports and sample surveys conducted by the statistical bureaus of all levels of government and the Survey Office of the National Bureau of Statistics in Guangdong.
    Some data are collected from the departments of the central government and the provincial government. Data in the appendices are compiled from statistical publications published by the National Bureau of Statistics and other sources.
    The units of measurement used in The Yearbook are internationally standard measurement units, except that the unit of cultivated land and sown areas uses “mu” with regard to the Chinese tradition.
    Horizontal approach is used to calculate the average annual growth rates in the Yearbook.
    Notations used in the Yearbook:
    “ …” indicates that the figure is not large enough to be measured with the smallest unit in the table;
    “ # ” indicates a major breakdown of the total;
    “ blank space ” indicates that the data are unknown or are not available;
    “ ① ” indicates footnotes at the end of the table.
    Acknowledgements: Our gratitude goes to relevant departments and units under the provincial government, from which we have received tremendous support when compiling the Yearbook.