Dongguan, Guangdong province

The city of Dongguan [Photo/VCG]

Major social and economic indicators (2018)

Area: 2,460 sq km
Population: 8,343,000
Gross domestic product (GDP): 827.86 billion yuan ($123.51 billion)
GDP per capita: 98,900 yuan
Value of total merchandise trade: 1.34 trillion yuan
Value of export: 795.56 billion yuan
Value of import: 546.3 billion yuan
Industrial structure (% of GDP):
Primary industry (agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fishery): 0.3% of GDP
Secondary Industry (industrial and construction): 48.6% of GDP
Tertiary industry (service industry): 51.1% of GDP
Port cargo throughput: 164 million tons
Passenger throughput:
Visitors received: 44.34 million passenger trips

Note: the above figures are provided by relevant Guangdong provincial and municipal government departments.

Industries

Dongguan is located in the south-central part of Guangdong province, on the east bank of the Pearl River Estuary, and sits in the center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, as well as the middle section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor.

Dongguan's pillar industries are: electronic information; electrical machinery and equipment; textiles, garment, shoes and accessories; food and beverage processing; and papermaking and paper products. It has also formed a cluster of emerging industries including LED lighting, new flat displays, and photovoltaics.

Transport

Dongguan is connected to an extensive network of expressways, including Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Dongguan-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Shenzhen Yanjiang, Boluo-Shen, Conghua-Dongguan, and Chaozhou-Dongguan expressways, as well as Humen Bridge.

In terms of railways, Dongguan is located at the junction of the Beijing-Kowloon, Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou, Guangzhou-Shenzhen and Guangzhou–Kowloon railways. It is very convenient to travel to and from Hong Kong, Macao, Beijing, Shanghai, and eastern China. Currently, there are three intercity railways under construction, namely Guangzhou-Dongguan-Shenzhen Intercity Railway, Dongguan-Huizhou Intercity Railway, and Foshan-Dongguan Intercity Railway, which will connect the downtown areas of Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Huizhou.

There is also Humen Port, which has high-speed ferries connecting Humen with Zhuhai and the Skypier at Hong Kong International Airport.

Major development areas

National level:
Songshan Lake High-Tech Industrial Development Zone

Provincial level:
Dongguan Eco-industrial Park
Dongguan Waterfront Economic Development Zone
Guangdong Equipment Technology Industrial Park

Role in the Greater Bay Area

According to the development plan of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Dongguan is positioned as one of the seven key node cities of the area. It is expected to: fully leverage its strength; deepen reform and innovation; enhance its composite strength, and develop itself into a city with distinct characteristics, complementary positioning, and strong competitiveness; to enhance coordination in development, strengthen interaction and cooperation with the core cities; drive the development of towns nearby with distinct characteristics; and jointly raise the development quality of the city cluster.

Key words for Dongguan in the Greater Bay Area

Cooperation platform:

Support Dongguan in cooperating with Hong Kong in the development of the Dongguan Binhaiwan New District, form a cluster of headquarters of high-end manufacturing industries, develop modern service industries, and develop an R&D base for strategic emerging industries.

Entrepreneurship & employment:

Push forward the development of the Hong Kong-Macao youth innovation and entrepreneurial base in Dongguan Eco-Industrial Park at the Songshan Lake.

Industry layout:

Develop a globally influential and competitive cluster of world-class high-end manufacturing industries, such as electronic communications, on the east bank of the Pearl River with Shenzhen and Dongguan as its core.

Support municipalities such as Dongguan in transforming and upgrading traditional industries.

Information about transport and industry is courtesy of bayarea.gov.hk.