Dongguan's GDP per capita last year amounted to 56,590 RMB (8,289 USD, based on registered citizen population), 10% higher than in the year 2008.

The service sector contributed 15.1% of the GDP rise as the leading contributor, but industry recorded a decrease of 3.7%. The agriculture sector increased by 5.1% compared with the year of 2008.

The industrial output value reached RMB 593.5 billion in 2009, down 6.3% over the previous year due to the global financial crisis which hindered Dongguan’s exports. (Only the state-own companies, private manufacturers with sales income of more than 2 million RMB and private sellers with sales income of more than 5 million RMB are taken into account).

But this figure had showed steady recovery since February 2009. In February 2009, the industrial output value registered RMB 33.29 billion, and rose to more than RMB 69 billion in December 2009.

The total exports last year amounted $ 55.169 billion, down by almost 16% compared with the year of 2008. But the figure has shown a positive turn since last November. Exports increased by 1.6% last November and by 17.2% last December.

With more signs of recovery in economy, Dongguan has set its target economic growth this year to be 8%, according to Mr. Wang ZhaoHong, the Vice Director of Dongguan Development and Reform Bureau.

"Expanding domestic market demand and exports, introducing large capital of investment and reconstructing old urban area will help Dongguan achieve its goal," he said.