Japan, the Republic of Korea and the United States are the top three countries of origin for about 34,000 foreign residents who legally stayed in Guangzhou for at least six months, Guangzhou Daily reported on Friday.

Some 5,000 Japanese stayed in the capital city of Guangdong province longer than six months, followed by some 3,300 people from the ROK and 2,800 from the US, at the end of the first half of 2012, the report said.

The number of expats who visited or lived in the city in the first six months of 2012 exceeded 1 million, it added.