In China’s richest province, not every city is thriving

Growth engines like property sputter while new ones like high-tech industries surge

- Joyce ZK Lim China Correspondent

Shuttered storefronts bearing “for rent” signs pepper a once-busy building materials market in Foshan, one of many in the city now hard-hit by China’s property slump.

Shopkeepers who remain say business has rarely been worse, in a glimpse of the slowdown that has gripped the manufacturing heartland in Guangdong province.

But a two-hour drive away in the city of Shenzhen, a different picture emerges. At “Robot Valley”, a robotics cluster that stretches a length of 10km, companies like humanoid-maker UBTech and drone giant DJI keep the tech hub humming.

The divergent fortunes of the two cities in China’s richest province tell a tale of the country’s “two speed” economy - where old growth engines like property sputter while new ones like high-tech manufacturing surge.

This is a reflection of the conundrum facing China now, where the high-tech industries are not large enough to offset the drag from ailing traditional industries, leading to a flagging national economy.

At the Shiwan Shagan Ceramics Wholesale Market in Foshan on a recent weekday afternoon, the quiet streets were a far cry from the “endless stream of traffic” that storekeepers said defined its heyday.

“Before, I barely had time to eat lunch. Now I sit and suntan,” said Ms Wang Sisi, 56, at the entrance to her shop selling toilets and sinks. Sales had fallen by half in 2025, she said. She used to hire five workers but can no longer afford staff.

“Nobody is buying homes, nobody is building homes, so fewer people are coming for materials,” said tile seller Zhou Sheng, 55. He said that 2025 was the worst year of his two decades in business.