Dongguan keeps industrial growth amid crisis

By Li Qian (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-11-16 20:26

Dongguan, the manufacturing center in the Pearl River Delta, is poised to fight off the difficulties brought by the ongoing world financial crisis.

Though many of the 78,000 enterprises in the city are seeing a slowdown in export increase rates, most of the economic indexes still pose positive growth, Dongguan Mayor and local deputy chief of the Communist Party of China Li Yuquan said at a press meeting on November 14, 2008.

Member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Li Changchun (3rd from right), speaks during a visit to EAST Power Company in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong Province, October 19, 2008. [Xinhua]

This magical city went through an unusual way of development during the past 30 years, changing from a small town into an industrial kingdom.

“The decades’ of reform and opening-up has entirely changed Dongguan, “ Li said. Now the city is the 12th largest in China in terms of industrial power, and ranks fourth in export. Last year, foreign trade volume in Dongguan hit 1.7 trillion yuan.

Information Technology is the largest industry in Dongguan. Some of the 3,300 IT firms grabbed 30 percent of the world market in their respective fields.

Affected by the financial turmoil, Dongguan’s gross domestic product in the first ten month this year increased 15.1 percent, 2 percent lower than the same period last year.

Investment from overseas dropped 14 percent during the first ten month this year than the same period last year.

“This year is rather difficult for foreign–invested companies, and the situation may continue into next year,” Li said.

According to him, about 30 percent of the foreign enterprises have reported minus growth in profit, and 629 of them have closed doors this year, slightly more than previous years.

“The government is doing everything it can to help the troubled companies,” Lin said, “and we are confident to reduce the lost to the lowest level.”