Guangdong province, one of the economic powerhouses of South China, has set its annual GDP growth target for 2014 at 8.5 percent, according to a government work report.

Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan said at the sidelines of the opening of the annual people's congress on Jan 16 that the province's per capita GDP growth will increase 7.5 percent year-on-year in 2014.

The province's GDP is expected to surpass $1 trillion in 2013, with an annual growth of 8.5 percent, Zhu said.