South China's Guangdong province, the nation's production and export base, is experiencing a labor shortage, local authorities said Wednesday.

The Hong Kong-bordering province is short by about 800,000 laborers, a spokesman with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security said.

The labor shortage has mainly hit labor- and service-intensive industries, including the textile, catering and shoemaking industries, the spokesman said.

Industrial upgrades will cause an even more severe shortage of technical workers in the future, the spokesman said.