Dongguan
- Dongguan is located at 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 is connected to an extensive network of expressways, including Guangzhou-Shenzhen, Dongguan-Shenzhen, Guangzhou-Shenzhen Yanjiang, Boluo-Shen, Conghua-Dongguan, Chaozhou-Dongguan expressways and Humen Bridge. In terms of railways, Dongguan is located at the junction of 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 be connecting the city centres of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Huizhou. There is also Humen Port.
- Dongguan’s pillar industries are electronic information, electrical machinery and equipment; textile, 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 display, and photovoltaics.
Major Development Areas
- National level: ‘Songshan Lake High-Tech Industrial Development Zone’
- Provincial level: Dongguan Eco-industrial Park, Dongguan Waterfront Economic Development Zone, and Guangdong Equipment Technology Industrial Park
Economic and Trade Relations Between Dongguan and Hong Kong
- In 2018, the total value of import and export between Dongguan and Hong Kong amounted to RMB174.94 billion, accounting for 13% of the city’s overall; of which, the total export to Hong Kong was RMB172.86 billion, accounting for 21.7% of the city’s overall, and the total import from Hong Kong was 2.09 billion, accounting for 0.4% of the city’s overall.
- In 2017, the number of new direct investment projects from Hong Kong in Dongguan was 580; the contracted direct investment from Hong Kong amounted to US$2.13 billion; and the realised direct investment from Hong Kong was US$1.2 billion.
- As of the end of 2017, the number of approved Hong Kong-invested enterprises in Dongguan reached 6 747 (accounting for 56.4% of the city’s overall). The contracted direct investment from Hong Kong reached US$56.8 billion (accounting for 61.5% of the city’s overall) and the realised direct investment from Hong Kong was US$43.1 billion (accounting for 56.4% of the city’s overall).
Talent Schemes
- The Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Dongguan published a notice on 27 June 2019 regarding ‘the application for the special support plan for nurturing high-level talents for 2019’. The deadline for application is 31 July 2019.
Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Bases
- There are many youth innovation entrepreneurship bases in Dongguan, offering young people of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao a wide range of support services to foster youth innovation and entrepreneurship.
- The Dongguan Tianan Cyber Park Technology Business Incubator is a national technology business incubator which has set up a Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan cooperation platform. It has a coworking space named T+Space and an entrepreneurship base for young Chinese. It provides support, including financial services, talent cooperation, technical support, specialised services and policy support to Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan enterprises. Currently, there are 11 Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan enterprises; 21 industry-university-research projects from Dongguan, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan; and four incubation projects.
- In the ‘Changping Science & Technology Park’, there are Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan enterprises in the fields of industrial design, new materials technology, information technology, software and network technologies, and inspection and testing. Currently, there are five enterprises in the park and 12 projects being incubated in the park.
- Established in 2016, the ‘entrepreneurship base for youths of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan’ is the first cross-strait youth innovation entrepreneurship base in Dongguan recognised by the State Council. From 2018 onwards, it has also brought in projects from Hong Kong and Macao, including a robot project from Hong Kong.
- The ANTCLUB is one of the country’s earliest cross-strait youth innovation and entrepreneurship incubator, serving more than 50 teams and enterprises from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. At present, there are 32 teams, of which 16 are from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
- Lianfeng creative valley technology enterprise incubator provides working space for young entrepreneurs of Dongguan and Hong Kong. It also provides services including talent recruitment, policy consultation, start-up financing, product commercialisation, resources sharing, etc., to foster the development of entrepreneurship among the youth. Currently, there are ten enterprises or projects from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan admitted to the base.
- A Guangdong Hong Kong youth entrepreneurship incubator base in Guancheng was established in 2018. It provides incubation base and funding to encourage young people of Dongguan and Hong Kong to innovate and set up business. It also provides entrepreneurs with working space, recruitment services, policy consultation, start-up financing, product commercialisation service, resources sharing, etc.
- The innovation and entrepreneurship base for Hong Kong and Macao youths in Song Shan Lake is one of the first batch of 10 entrepreneurial bases which attended the plaque presentation ceremony organised by Guangdong and Hong Kong governments in Guangzhou in May, 2019.
For Dongguan’s key measures on taking forward the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, please refer to ‘the webpage of Work Report of Dongguan Municipal Government’ (in Chinese only).