Still, the continuing face-lift and construction boom hasn't insulated Guangzhou's economy and commercial real-estate market from the global economic slowdown, which is battering the manufacturing sector in the province of Guangdong in southern China where Guangzhou is located.
The World Bank last year listed Guangzhou, the capital of China's fastest growing province, Guangdong, and seven other Chinese cities among the 10 most polluted in the world.
Last June, Sony Computer Entertainment opened its China headquarters at Guangdong Animation City, a government-backed project in Guangzhou to boost the local animation and gaming industry.