Guangdong's economy might be looking up from April, Vice Governor Wan Qingliang told China Daily on Wednesday.

"The province's economy from November to March was its worst in the past 30 years, but it will start to recover in the second quarter of this year," Wan said.

Government findings, he says, show that many businesses are receiving more orders than in the previous months, and most of these would start bringing in the revenue in the second quarter of this year.

Manufacturers have begun consuming more electricity in March, which Wan feels is "a signal that many factories are beefing up production". While most manufacturers of consumer goods were not seriously affected by the economic slowdown, those of high-tech products were, he said, because "The demand for expensive and luxury products in the international market has significantly shrunk".

Wan said the industrial upgrading drive will not be delayed despite the slump in high-tech exports.

"Most of the shut-down enterprises are small and lack competitiveness," he said.

About 2,400 foreign-funded enterprises collapsed, suspended production or moved out of Guangdong last year, according to government figures.

Wan, however, admitted that most manufacturers who were still functional have shortened their working hours for lack of orders. There have been lay-offs, causing many migrant workers to lose their jobs.

In January and February, the GDP growth of Guangdong was 5 percent, falling short of the government's target of 8.5 percent in 2009.

"It is a really tough target, and will be very difficult to achieve," Wan said.

The province's GDP hit 3.57 trillion yuan (US$521.6 billion) last year, up 10.1 percent from 2007.

He said Guangdong will invest more than 303 billion yuan in 200 big projects in 2009, covering infrastructure, service industry, and high-technology.

Wan is confident that Guangdong would be the first province in China to walk out of the economic difficulty.

(China Daily March 12, 2009)