The Guangdong city of Dongguan, long known as a traditional manufacturing base, is successfully repositioning itself as a hub for high-tech, creative manufacturing, state media reports.
The shift was underscored by a recent tour organised by the China Foreign Trade Center, where representatives from more than 20 countries – all leading buyers at the Canton Fair – got to experience what Xinhua called the city’s “upgraded export bases” for themselves.
These were namely trendy toys, designer furniture and next-generation electronics.
[See more: Guangdong’s trade reaches 5.4 trillion yuan from January to July]
In Shipai, a district known as Dongguan’s “trendy-toy town”, the group inspected the sector’s entire value chain – from sketching and prototyping to mass production, logistics and sales. Shipai is home to about 4,000 toy makers and 1,500 supporting firms, accounting for 85 percent of China’s designer-toy output.
The tour coincided with the 15th China International Animation Copyright Fair, which drew nearly 100,000 visitors from 8 to 11 August and generated intended contracts worth 1.56 billion yuan (US$217 million). The fair is held in Shipai.
Among the largest deals were a 108 million yuan (US$15 million) order from Russian firm Fenix for artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled toys, and an agreement worth nearly 100 million yuan (US$13.9 million between a Japanese distributor and Guangdong Weisi Trendy Toy Intelligent Manufacturing Co Ltd.
City officials said the visit marked the start of Dongguan’s foreign trade promotion season. More than 30 matchmaking events are scheduled between August and October to connect global buyers with local suppliers.
Buyers in the China Foreign Trade Center’s tour hailed from countries including Denmark, Germany, the US, Japan, Russia and Australia.
