Haizhu

Haizhu district occupies a large island — roughly 90 km² — formed by the channels of the Pearl River delta. Historically an agricultural and fishing area, it industrialised progressively through the twentieth century and now houses a complex mix of land uses from textile wholesale markets to technology parks and one of China's most significant urban wetland reserves.

The Canton Fair Complex on the island's northern shore is the venue for the China Import and Export Fair, held twice annually in April and October. With approximately 25,000 exhibitors and 200,000 international buyers per edition, it is routinely described as the world's largest trade fair by both floor area and participation. The fair's presence defines Guangzhou's hotel market and transport system twice a year; its absence in non-fair months makes the complex an unusually quiet venue precinct.

Haizhu Wetland Park, established from 2012 in the island's southern interior, covers approximately 1,100 hectares of mulberry ponds, reed beds, and river channels. The traditional mulberry-fishpond farming system — in which leaves from mulberry trees planted on dyke banks feed silkworms, whose waste feeds fish in adjacent ponds — is partially maintained as both a working agricultural system and a heritage demonstration. The wetland supports several hundred bird species and is one of the more significant urban ecological sites in the Pearl River Delta.

The Pazhou area, on the island's eastern edge, has emerged as a technology cluster with offices for gaming companies, e-commerce platforms, and media firms — a southward extension of the Guangzhou tech economy beyond the Tianhe CBD.