Dongguan has pledged to slow its economic growth as part of a strategy to transform itself from a resource-led to an innovation-led economy.
Beijing named Dongguan in February as a pilot city for the nation's so-called scientific development, encouraging it to draw on the experience of Singapore and Yokohama, Japan, in terms of industrial upgrades, urban planning, public administration, environmental protection and community welfare.
Dongguan party secretary Liu Zhigeng was quoted by The Southern Metropolis News yesterday as saying that the city was fully prepared for the impact of lower gross domestic product growth for the next five years.
Mr Liu said Dongguan had to make the shift to an innovation-led economy because obstacles such as limited land, resources and labour, and the threat of environmental pollution would eventually ruin the city.
In Mr Liu's blueprint, Dongguan should focus on district redistribution, streamlining its industrial infrastructure, launching more hi-tech projects, attracting skilled talent and improving public security.
'Dongguan's GDP growth reached 18 per cent last year ... but we must endure the throes brought by a temporarily slowed economy [to transform ourselves],' he said.