Guangzhou has made great achievements in infrastructure construction, improving its modern transportation system integrating land, sea, and air. 

In the 1950s, 40 percent of villages and 15 percent of towns in Guangzhou couldn't be reached by car. However, by the end of 2018, the mileage of highways open to traffic had reached 8,975 kilometers. 

Currently, Guangzhou possesses 15 metro lines and one tram line, with an overall operating length of 485 km, ranking third in China. In 2018, Guangzhou metro lines had carried over three billion passengers in the year, undertaking 51 percent of the public transportation load in the city.

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which possesses three runways and two terminals, is one of the three largest aviation hubs in China. [Photo/southcn.com]

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, which possesses three runways and two terminals, is one of the three largest aviation hubs in China. The annual passenger throughput reached nearly 70 million, ranking third in China and 13th in the world.

In addition, the city has been upgrading its international shipping hub capacity level. In 1952, the handling capacity was only 3.11 million tons, while that number has grown to 613 million tons in 2018, ranking fifth in the world.

Guangzhou has gained momentum in improving people's livelihoods. The per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural resident were both lower than 200 yuan in 1952, with those numbers rising to 59,982 yuan and 26,020 yuan in 2018. 

The annual growth rate of the per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural resident per from 1979 to 2018 were 13.7 percent and 13.2 percent respectively, keeping a steady pace with the local economic growth.

The industrial development and urbanization of Guangzhou has provided more job opportunities, as the number of employees in the city have climbed from 992,000 in 1949 to 8.97 million in 2018, which is more than eight times of that in 1949.

A multilevel social security system has been built in Guangzhou. By the end of 2018, 12.48 million people in Guangzhou have been covered in the social medical insurance system. The average monthly pension of enterprise retirees amounted to 3,513 yuan in 2018, which tops among sub-provincial cities in China.