SHENZHEN, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- The total number of high-tech enterprises in south China's Guangdong Province has exceeded 75,000, local authorities have said.

By the end of 2023, the province's estimated annual research and development (R&D) expenditure topped 460 billion yuan (about 64.8 billion U.S. dollars), boasting 1.35 million R&D personnel and more than 665,000 valid invention patents, according to statistics revealed at a provincial conference on high-quality development.

Meanwhile, Guangdong saw the filing of 23,700 international patent applications via the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The innovation performance of local enterprises has become a signature strength of Guangdong's economy, said Gong Guoping with the provincial department of science and technology.

As an economic powerhouse in south China, Guangdong saw its gross domestic product (GDP) surpass 13 trillion yuan in 2023, topping the country for 35 consecutive years.