By Guan Zhongping
Today, Dongguan celebrates its third “Private Entrepreneur Day”. On this day, the city chooses to shine the spotlight entirely on private entrepreneurs—intensive activities such as government-enterprise communication forums, lectures at the Dongguan Business School, and exchange conferences are held, with provincial and municipal leaders sitting side by side with entrepreneurs.
Private entrepreneurs not only occupy the central position in the conference hall but also stand at the center stage of Dongguan’s urban development. By the end of September 2025, Dongguan will have a total of 1.8552 million private entities, accounting for 96.44% of the total operating entities, with the number of private enterprises exceeding 794,100, achieving a year-on-year growth of 37.73%, firmly ranking first among prefecture-level cities in Guangdong Province. Behind these numbers is Dongguan’s solid step from a “world factory” to “Dongguan Intelligent Manufacturing”, as well as a profound transformation in the logic of urban development.01 The Confidence of the ‘C Position’How important is the private economy in Dongguan? The data provides a clear answer: it contributes more than 60% of the regional GDP, over 70% of the total tax revenue, more than 80% of the innovation achievements and employment, and over 90% of the market entities. In the first three quarters of 2025, the import and export scale of private enterprises in Dongguan reached 729.57 billion yuan, accounting for 62.6% of the city’s total import and export value, with a year-on-year growth of 21.7%. In the face of a complex and changing external environment, the private economy has demonstrated strong resilience. From “processing trade” to “intelligent manufacturing hub”, the private economy has become an important support for Dongguan’s trillion GDP and ten million population “double ten thousand city”. On this land, over 200 million people have struggled and fought, and private entrepreneurs are an indispensable force among them. They started from scratch, overcoming obstacles, building their businesses from nothing to something, while also witnessing every brick and tile of Dongguan rise. From Hongyuan becoming the first listed company in the city, to Marco Polo Holdings becoming the latest listed company in Dongguan, and to Huawei, OPPO, and vivo creating a global smartphone industry cluster, private entrepreneurs uphold the spirit of “daring to be the first and sticking to the real economy”, supporting the backbone of urban development. The history of Dongguan’s development is the history of entrepreneurs’ entrepreneurship and struggle. This is precisely the greatest confidence that Dongguan has in pushing private entrepreneurs to the “C position”.
02
Real Support for the ‘C Position’
Allowing entrepreneurs to stand in the “C position” is not just a formal respect, but requires substantial policy support. At the beginning of 2025, the Dongguan municipal government issued the “Several Measures to Accelerate the High-Quality Development of Manufacturing Empowered by Artificial Intelligence” in the form of a “No. 1 Document”, and the “Several Measures to Promote the High-Quality Development of Manufacturing Empowered by Productive Services” in the form of a “No. 2 Document”. These two documents focus on the themes of “Artificial Intelligence + Advanced Manufacturing” and “Productive Services + Advanced Manufacturing”, showcasing Dongguan’s commitment to a real economy and manufacturing. Relevant departments have also intensively introduced a series of supporting policies: the Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology released the “Several Policy Measures to Accelerate the High-Quality Development of the Industrial and Information Industry”, providing financial support of up to 10 million yuan to fully empower the high-quality development of the city’s “8+8+4” key industries. The Municipal Bureau of Commerce released the “Work Plan for Promoting Stable Growth in Foreign Trade in Dongguan”, introducing 30 measures to directly address risks and challenges in the foreign trade sector. The Municipal Financial Office released the “Several Measures to Facilitate Enterprise Financing and Empower High-Quality Development”, optimizing the financing environment for enterprises. For emerging fields, Dongguan is equally unrelenting. The Municipal Development and Reform Bureau, the Municipal Administration and Data Bureau, and the Municipal Transportation Bureau jointly issued the “Several Measures to Support the High-Quality Development of the Low-Altitude Economy in Dongguan”, using real financial support to solve industrial development bottlenecks, focusing on building a low-altitude economic ecosystem characterized by “complete facilities, rich scenarios, industrial agglomeration, and comprehensive support”. These policies are not just empty talk but targeted and precise support. For example, for enterprises going abroad, municipal policies provide subsidies of up to 100,000 yuan for special exhibition booth setup fees, 200,000 yuan for trade association exhibitions, and 150,000 yuan for “Dongguan products” promotion activities.
03
The ‘C Position Ecosystem’ of Close and Clear Relations
The relationship between government and business is a core indicator of the business environment. During the 2025 Private Entrepreneur Day event, the government-enterprise communication forum served as a core segment, directly addressing the development demands of enterprises. This regularized government-enterprise communication mechanism reflects Dongguan’s determination to build a “close and clear government-business relationship”. The municipal party secretary Wei Hao stated at the 2024 Private Entrepreneur Day government-enterprise symposium: “Dongguan has always had a good tradition of being friendly to businesses, ensuring their stability, and supporting them. The municipal party committee and government will continue to inherit and promote good traditions and practices, clearly supporting the development of the private economy, and making greater efforts to support and serve private enterprises.” Various towns and streets have also actively responded. Humen Town held a government-enterprise symposium and exchange evening for private entrepreneurs, where town leaders engaged in discussions with representatives of private entrepreneurs, listening to their demands and suggestions for promoting high-quality development. Chang’an Town held a themed event titled “‘Second Entrepreneurship’ New Journey, Quality Leading Future New Chapter”, while Changping Town convened a government-enterprise exchange symposium focused on high-quality development, uniting government and enterprise efforts. This government-enterprise interaction is not superficial but a real problem-solving mechanism. In the free exchange segment, representatives of private entrepreneurs can directly present their opinions and suggestions to the party committee and government regarding issues they care about, such as infrastructure construction and the implementation of policies benefiting enterprises. The core of the reform of government-business relations is to clarify boundaries and enhance services. As emphasized by Jiang Yajun, the party secretary of Humen Town: “The government should provide convenient conditions and quality services for enterprise operations, allowing all enterprises in Humen to focus on development without distractions.”
04
Breakthrough of the Private Economy’s ‘C Position’
Visiting the Songshan Lake Shengyi Technology and Tosida Global R&D Headquarters—this was an important arrangement for the morning of the 2025 Private Entrepreneur Day. This arrangement is quite symbolic: the private economy in Dongguan is breaking through from traditional manufacturing to intelligent manufacturing. Strategic consulting expert Wang Zhigang once commented on Dongguan’s transformation: “You don’t know until you look, and when you look, you’re shocked. After these visits, I found that Dongguan has truly transformed from a ‘world factory’ to ‘Dongguan Intelligent Manufacturing’, achieving a complete metamorphosis, a sea change.” Dongguan has established the most comprehensive industrial ecosystem globally, where as long as you have an idea, you can realize your dreams at a relatively low threshold and cost within a limited scope. This complete industrial chain support is a unique advantage of Dongguan’s private economy. Wang Zhigang pointed out the reasons for Dongguan’s successful transformation: “Why has Dongguan undergone so many profound changes in history? It can be summarized in three phrases: reforms forced out, vitality released, and markets explored.” In response to the demands of new productive forces, private enterprises in Dongguan are accelerating their layout in new tracks. The low-altitude economy is one of them, with Dongguan’s measures to support the high-quality development of the low-altitude economy including subsidies of up to 5 million yuan for general airport construction and up to 1 million yuan for cultivating low-altitude application scenarios. Wang He-wen, an expert in low-altitude economy from the Guangdong Provincial People’s Congress’s high-quality talent introduction task force, suggested that enterprises should seize opportunities in application scenarios such as drone logistics and low-altitude tourism, integrating into the development of industrial agglomeration areas. By 2026, Dongguan aims to gather over 200 chain enterprises and exceed an industrial scale of 50 billion yuan.
05
The Ambition of Going Global from the ‘C Position’
The “Guangdong (Dongguan) – Chile Economic and Trade Exchange Activity” is an important event in the preheating phase of the 2025 Private Entrepreneur Day, helping private enterprises expand their overseas “circle of friends”. This reflects the global vision of Dongguan’s private economy. In the first three quarters of 2025, the import and export scale of private enterprises in Dongguan reached 729.57 billion yuan, accounting for 62.6% of the city’s total import and export value, with a year-on-year growth of 21.7%. Achieving this result is not easy in the context of globalization facing headwinds. Going global is not only about product sales but also about the comprehensive output of brands and industrial chains. Dongguan enterprises such as Marco Polo, BBK, and Mu Si have become internationally influential brands. The success of these enterprises indicates that Dongguan manufacturing is upgrading to Dongguan intelligent manufacturing and Dongguan branding. Policy support is also robust. Provincial policies provide subsidies for eligible foreign trade enterprises participating in exhibitions, covering up to 80% of the booth fees, not exceeding 30,000 yuan per booth, with enterprises allowed to participate in up to five exhibitions annually. These measures reduce the costs and risks for enterprises to explore international markets. Private entrepreneur Huang Jianping once stated: “Instead of speculating on the turning point of the economy or policies, it is better to work hard to create spring. Enterprises need to continuously upgrade and innovate to adapt to market changes and meet consumer demands.” This pragmatic and enterprising attitude is the core spirit of Dongguan’s private enterprises in their global expansion.
06
Deep Interpretation of the ‘C Position’ Responsibility
The ‘C position’ of private enterprises not only reflects economic status but also embodies social responsibility. The “Dongguan Private Enterprise Social Responsibility Report (2022-2025)” has introduced ESG evaluation standards for the first time, systematically presenting the effectiveness of Dongguan’s private enterprises in fulfilling their responsibilities. In terms of environmental responsibility, by the end of 2024, there are over 1,800 environmental service enterprises in Dongguan, with an annual output value of nearly 9 billion yuan. Among the surveyed enterprises, more than half have established environmental protection management departments, and high-energy-consuming industries generally have set up environmental management and R&D departments. In terms of social responsibility, from 2020 to 2024, the total donations from Dongguan’s private enterprises during the “6.30” Dongguan Charity Day event increased from 53.5 million yuan to 189 million yuan, growing 2.5 times over five years. Private enterprises participate in various forms in activities such as “Private Enterprises Border Tour”, East-West cooperation, and the “Hundred Million Thousand Project”. In terms of governance responsibility, over 60 Dongguan private enterprises listed domestically have generally established party organizations, regularly conducting party-building activities and actively fulfilling social responsibilities. Large private enterprises are generally exploring the establishment of sound compliance management systems, striving to achieve the normalization of internal risk control mechanisms. Private enterprises have become an important force in Dongguan’s fulfillment of social responsibilities. This indicates that the ‘C position’ of Dongguan’s private enterprises is a comprehensive responsibility, creating not only economic value but also playing roles in social, environmental, and governance aspects.
In the laboratory of Songshan Lake Shengyi Technology, engineers are testing new generations of electronic materials; in Tosida’s smart workshop, industrial robots are assembling in an orderly manner; in the Binhai Bay New Area, low-altitude economic application scenarios are being planned. Every spark of innovation is nurturing the industrial landscape of Dongguan’s future.
With the implementation of the “Private Economy Promotion Law” in May 2025, the development of the private economy will receive more solid legal protection. Dongguan’s private entrepreneurs face the future with greater composure. From guests at the mayor’s seat to urban partners, from economic contributors to social responsibility bearers, the ‘C position’ of Dongguan’s private entrepreneurs represents a profound urban transformation. This transformation concerns not only the economy but also the development logic and future direction of a city. When a city willingly gives the ‘C position’ to entrepreneurs, it reflects respect for value creation, reverence for market laws, and foresight for the future. This is the deepest code for the high-quality development of Dongguan’s private economy.