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Located at the core of southern China’s Pearl River Delta, Shunde possesses strategic links to nearby Guangzhou to the north plus convenient ties to Hong Kong and Macau to the south  An impressive performer, Shunde’s GDP reached US$38.1bn in 2012. Its gross industrial output stood at US$90bn, placing it near the top among the nation’s 100 strongest city districts in comprehensive strength. Shunde has established firm trade relationships with countries around the world. In addition, entrepreneurs from Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Europe and the US have set up 1,797 foreign-invested enterprises in the city with total investment amounting to US$13bn. Among these foreign-invested enterprises, 43 have been established by 27 international companies ranked among the world’s top 500. Privately owned companies in Shunde have developed in leaps and bounds in recent years. As at 2012, a total of 42 Shunde companies have made investments overseas. Among these, 30 have invested in Hong Kong in businesses related to trading, manufacturing, investment and finance, and property. Moreover, exports have recorded a strong increase, with 2012’s total export value amounting to US$17.15bn. More than 50 per cent of exports go to Hong Kong, the US and the EU.  Manufacturing metropolisShunde has developed into a prosperous, full-fledged manufacturing metropolis with three major industries that orchestrate harmoniously. Clearly, the “made in Shunde” label earns plaudits from domestic and overseas buyers. Currently, there are nine pillar industries in Shunde: home appliances, machinery and equipment, textiles and garments, chemicals, telecommunications, car accessories and components, household products, packaging and printing, and bio-medicine. Above all, Shunde achieves fame for its electronic home appliances, a sector in which its output accounts for 15 per cent of the national total. Shunde ranks as the country’s biggest producer of air-conditioners, refrigerators, heaters and disinfectant cabinets. Its output of rice cookers and microwave ovens leads the world.  Paint-making forms another important industrial cluster. Shunde accounts for 10 per cent of China’s output of both paint and household furniture.Frequently, Shunde wins national praise as a “capital of home appliances”, a “town of paint” or a “centre for electrical appliances”. Its leading areas, like Beijiao and Ronggui, earn plaudits too. So much manufacturing activity also boosts business in the financial, conference and exhibition, logistics, consulting and professional-training sectors. The private sector in Shunde is also mushrooming with prestigious brands like Midea, Galanz, Country Garden, Hisense, Kelon, Ronshen, Vanward, Canbo, China Lesso, Chow Sang Sang, Chow Tai Fook and Donlim. Altogether, Shunde’s electronic home appliances industry can boast of eight famous labels, 11nationally renowned labels and 64 provincially renowned products.   Occupying just 0.45 per cent of Guangdong’s total land, Shunde nevertheless has attracted five enterprises with outputs of more than US$1.7bn, 12 above US$820m and 61 in excess of US$160m. Thirteen of these companies have gone public (excluding holding companies), representing 20 per cent of Guangdong Province’s listed companies.Furthermore, 20 home appliance manufacturers there, each with annual production exceeding US$3.3m, total US$36bn, representing one-fifth of the sector’s national output. Indeed, Shunde produces 90 per cent of Guangdong’s microwave ovens, two-thirds of its household freezers, 53 per cent of its home water heaters and half of its home refrigerators. All this testifies to the boldness of Shunde’s entrepreneurs. Expectations suggest that soon Shunde will receive designation as a “national quality and safety demonstration zone”. That would accelerate its fast-growing home appliances industry. The past decade has seen the industry’s exports almost quadruple to US$6.4bn (in 2012), representing one-eighth of national exports. Technological innovations  Several decades worth of development has turned home appliances into Shunde’s main pillar industry, thanks partly to valuable support from academic institutions. Technology upgrades sharpened Shunde’s advantages in intelligent and eco-friendly appliances while helping healthcare and new-materials products to flourish too. Teamwork between manufacturers and academic institutions has also enhanced the design profession. For example, Midea’s electric pressure cooker won a gold prize in the 12th China Patent Awards. Shunde marches on — from tapping foreign technology to developing its own patented solutions. A self-built intellectual-property wonderland has started to emerge.  Public service platformShunde continues to strengthen its policies on public services, brand-building and industrial-park construction. As a base for such a large home-appliances cluster, it provides 22 public-service platforms. Leading ones include the South China Household Electric Appliances Research Institute, Guangdong Industrial Design City, Foshan Shunde Guoce Testing Technology Co Ltd, Shunde Home Appliances Chamber of Commerce, Shunde Gas Appliances Chamber of Commerce, Shunde SME Promotion Association, Industrial Design Association of Shunde, and Shunde Electronic Chamber of Commerce. Among the services covered are: promotion of advanced technology, home-appliances development and design, technology consulting, technology transfers, training, project nurturing, off-shore investment, testing and certification, intellectual-property protection, standard compliance and international marketing. With this structure and so many efforts in place, yet another significant upgrade of the home appliances industry should follow.  More on ShundeEstablished in 1452 during the Ming Dynasty, Shunde became a county in March 1992 and then a district of Foshan city in January 2003. Now it governs 10 towns (sub-districts) and 202 administrative villages and residential communities, all with a population of 2,480,000. More than 500,000 people from Shunde live in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan or overseas. Since reform-and-opening initiatives began in 1978, Shunde has relied on its advantages, like dynamic policies, prime location and well-established culture to transform from an agricultural area into a modern, industrial boomtown. Not by coincidence, Shunde ranked first among China’s top-100 competitive county-level economies in recent years. Shunde Economy, Science and Technology Bureau 2/F, Government Administrative Service Center East, Demin Rd Daliang, Shunde, Foshan, Guangdong Province, China Tel：86-757-2283-3298 Fax：86-757-2283-5498 Web：http://sdet.gov.cn/portal |