The Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences said this week that most residents of the city now feel safe.

A survey conducted by the academy last year showed 87 percent of 1,380 respondents felt safe, up 11 percent from 2006. The figure marked the highest satisfaction rate in the past five years.

The improved public perception is attributed to endeavors by the authorities to build Guangzhou into a modern industrial city.

Zhu Xiaodan, Party secretary of Guangzhou, the provincial capital, said that  the city expects to be a leader in the province in the establishment of modern industrial and service industries.

Logistics, financial, banking, convention and exhibition facilities, design and innovation, intellectual property laws, and software outsourcing are included on the list.

As for manufacturing, the city will develop new and hi-tech industries focusing on electronics, information technology, bio-medicine, software, new materials, online games and animation.

Zhu said improvements will also be made to the city's pillar industries - automobiles, petrochemicals, shipbuilding, and equipment manufacturing.

"The city is actively promoting the 'double transfer' strategy, which means transferring low-end industrial projects and labor to less developed regions so as to give more space and capacity for the development of new hi-tech and advanced manufacturing industries," Zhu said.