It starts at Jiaokou running 41.7 km (25.91 mi) in a wide "∩" shape and ends at Huangpu New Port.

[4] On December 31, 2009, Line 5 set a record of 567,000 daily passengers, surpassing the ten year ridership projections in the span of just 4 days after its opening.

[7] Prompting the Guangzhou Metro to limit passenger traffic at a number of subway stations on Line 5.

[7] In 2018, the busiest section of Line 5 reaches over 50,000 pphpd of traffic volume during peak periods.

In 2020, Guangzhou Metro started bidding for 14 additional trains to supplement the fleet in preparation for the east extension.