Dongguan is located in the south central part of Guangdong Province and to the east of the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan is in the heartland of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor.

Renowned for its “Made in Dongguan”, the city is a world manufacturing center and an important export base for China. Over the years, Dongguan has enjoyed close economic and trade ties with more than 200 countries and regions. With over 11,000 foreign-funded enterprises in Dongguan from over 50 countries or regions, which include nearly 100 projects by Fortune Global 500 companies, the city has attracted a total of 75 billion US dollars of foreign capital. Covering 30 specific sectors and 60,000 kinds of products, its over 150,000 industrial enterprises boast 90% being locally self-contained and thus constitute a complete manufacturing system, ranging from electronic information, clothing, furniture, hardware to molds, etc. Its smartphone industry is particularly well developed, with Huawei, Oppo, and Vivo mobile phone shipments ranking top six globally. One in five smartphones in the world is made in Dongguan. In recent years, Dongguan has been actively implementing the “Belt and Road” Initiative, having hosted for years the Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo, China Processing Trade Products Fair and Guangdong International Robot & Intelligent Equipment Exposition. It has launched the China Railway (CR) Express freight services that travel both between China and Europe and between China and Asia. With its integrated land and sea linkages, it strives to be an important hub for the “Belt and Road” Initiative.

An innovation-oriented city dedicated to developing science and technology. The only prefecture-level city incorporated into the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, Dongguan has been, in recent years, carrying out its innovation-driven development strategy and promoting its “automation plan”, “growth doubling program” and a quick transition from “Made in Dongguan” to “Intelligently manufactured in Dongguan”.

By 2017, its GDP increased by 8.1% to RMB 758.2 billion yuan, ranking 19th in China’s large and medium-sized cities and its total import and export reached 1.22 trillion, ranking fifth among peers. According to the jointly released report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) and the UN-Habitat, Dongguan ranks 154th globally and 10th in China in terms of urban competitiveness.