Zhongshan

Business

Zhongshan, together with Dongguan, Nanhai and Shunde, are dubbed as Four Little Tigers in Guangdong. The proximity of Zhongshan to Hong Kong and Macau is an advantage to its economic development, especially on the manufacturing industries.

In the 1980s, Zhongshan had a relatively developed State-Owned Enterprises (SOE) sector that was used to stimulate Township and Village Enterprises (TVE) development in the countryside. Currently, the SOE sector is much weaker and the economy is dominated by foreign investment and TVEs, and also by various specialized manufacturing towns. Each of these towns is specialized in making a particular product. Most of the towns are so successful that they earn a reputation as a leading manufacturer in their own pillar industries. Indeed, "One Industry in One Town" has become a unique economic feature in Zhongshan.

Pillar Industries
Zhongshan Torch Zone

Guzhen Town for Lighting Fitting Products

Dubbed China Lighting Capital by China Light Industry Council and China Association of Lighting Industry. Guzhen Town is the largest production base of lighting fittings in China and one of the top four distributing centres of lighting fittings worldwide. The development of the lighting fittings industry in Guzhen can be tracked back to the late 1970s when products such as table lamps and emergency lamps produced by TVEs were sold in the western region of China. Nevertheless with the support of the government in terms of capital, land and policies, the first wave of development took place from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Following the great success of the first China (Guzhen) International Lighting Fair held in 1999, Guzhen's lighting fittings industry has undergone an unprecedented growth in the years around the year of millennium.

A wide variety of lighting fittings products, ranging from crystal lamps, table lamps, wall lamps, ceiling lamps, palace lamps, pendant lamps and garden lamps to spotlights for stage lighting, are produced in Guzhen. These made-in Guzhen lighting fitting products are not only sold in domestic market, but also popular worldwide, with large markets in the U.S., the Middle East, South Africa, and Europe. Awarded ISO 9002 and other quality certificates issued by China, the U.S., the European Commission, and Canada, Guzhen's lighting fittings products are guaranteed with high quality and considered to be very competitive at home and overseas. Nevertheless, further development of Guzhen's lighting fitting industry, to a very large extent, depends on a sizeable number of creative, innovative professionals, and more and more new product designs, which are in short supply at present.

Guzhen Town for Lighting Fitting Products

Dachong Town for Rosewood Furniture Industry

Experts came to an agreement that Dachong Town should be a leader in rosewood furniture industrial upgrading through brand building, technological innovation and sustainable development, at the rosewood furniture forum whose theme was Technological Innovation and Brand Building in Rosewood Industry. The forum was held by China (Dachong Town) Superior-quality Rosewood Furniture Exhibition Aug. 8th, 2009.

Dachong Town is designated as the specialized town of rosewood furniture production in Guangdong by Guangdong Technological Bureau in December 2001. The town was entitled successively as the first specialized town of rosewood furniture production in China by China Light Industry Association, and the Hometown for China Rosewood Sculpture from Ministry of Culture in March 2003. Afterwards, Hexing, Hongguxuan and Hongfa became famous brands and products one after another in Guangdong Province.

Gangkou Town for Entertainment Electronics

Recent years are seeing the soaring growth of the games and amusement industry in Gangkou Town. Home to Zhongshan Game & Amusement Production Base and Zhongshan Dragon World Game & Amusement Trading Center, Gangkou boasts 1/3 of the Zhongshan-based games and amusement enterprises. In the domestic market, 7 of 10 amusement facilities are Zhongshan-made.

IGangkou makes full use of the advantage and aims to become the biggest games & amusement base in China, through developing a combination of R & D center, manufacturing base, tourism spot and shopping centers in town.

Gangkou Town for Entertainment Electronics

Xiaolan Town for Locks and Hardware Industry, as well as for Electronic Acoustics Products

Xiaolan Town is dubbed "Lock City of the South" as well as "Electronic Acoustic Industrial Base" in China. The two industries are the pillar industries of Xiaolan.

Xiaolan controls 23% of the national market share. Indeed, there are production lines of such famous brands as Vantage gas stoves, Guli locks and St. Allen nail clippers in Xiaolan. Over 30% of manufacturing enterprises in Xiaolan are engaged in locks and hardware production. In the meanwhile, a dynamic growth in the sector of electronic acoustics, which takes place in recent years, has also made Xiaolan the first "Electronic Acoustics Industrial Base" in China. During two-years time from 2000, over a hundres enterprises have started their business in this town. Both local and foreign enterprises which is specialized in production of domestic stereo, DVDs, laser heads, high-tech digital audio equipment, loudspeakers, circuit boards and aluminium panels are clustering in this small town. Production bases of such foreign brands as ADS and Boston are operating in Xiaolan while Philips, Toshiba, JBL, Onkyo and Jamo also run their OEM production there.

Zhongshan Torch Zone

Zhongshan Torch Zone (Zhongshan Torch Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone) is a nation-level new hi-tech industrial development zone, which was jointly established by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China, the People's Government of Guangdong Province and Zhongshan Municipal Government in 1990. Zhongshan Torch Zone, lying to the west of the Pearl River Estuary, and Shenzhen and Hong Kong are on the opposite sides of the sea. What run through the city are Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, Seaside Expressway, Zhongshan-Jiangmen Expressway and the Pearl River Delta light railway that is to be opened. At the same time, it possesses Zhongshan Port that ranks top 10 among the ports nationwide in terms of container-handling capacity. These super conditions of hinge traffic on the west bank of the Pearl River Estuary push Zhongshan Torch Zone to the grand competition stage of economic circle surrounding Lingdingyang Sea.

Over one thousand well-known industrial enterprises that come from more than 20 countries and regions have gathered on this piece of 70-square-kilometer fascinating land with the total population of 200,000. Among these enterprises, more than 500 are above designated scale, and approximately 20 are among World Top 500. Their foreign-exchange-earning capacity ranks top 10 in China. Seven nation-level industrial bases, the number of which is regarded as the greatest among all the new hi-tech zones nationwide, have been set up on this land. Namely National Health Technology Industrial Base, China Packaging and Printing Industrial Base, China Electronics (Zhongshan) Base, National Hi-tech Products Exporting Base, China Technological Model Base (Zhongshan) of Industry, Zhongshan (Linhai) Equipment Manufacturing Base under National Torch Plan, and China Green Healthy Foodstuff Industrial Base. Under the spotlight in the Pearl River Estuary Economic Circle are such five backbone industries as electronic information technology, biotechnology and pharmacy, packaging and printing, chemical industry and auto parts, and such four rising advantageous industries as equipment manufacturing, energy saving and new energy, micro-electronics and communication, and bio-technology. In recent years, the economic development of Zhongshan Torch Zone has presented a strong leaping forward momentum. In 2007, the GDP of Torch Zone totaled 18.75 billion yuan, gross industrial output value 71.52 billion yuan, and the fiscal revenue 2.55 billion yuan. Meanwhile, the earned foreign exchange was 3.84 billion USD and actually utilized foreign capital arrived to 255 million USD. All these economic indexes accounted for from 1/7 to 1/3 of that of Zhongshan City's.