I. General Introduction

Shaxi Town, located to the west of downtown Zhongshan, covers 55 square kilometers and administers 15 village committees and 1 residential committee. The registered population is 61,000 and the floating population exceeds 80,000. Besides, over 80,000 have emigrated overseas. Shaxi Town is famous for its overseas Chinese. Moreover, it is a national demonstrating town of economic development, a central town of Guangdong Province and a specialized town of technological innovation in Guangdong Province. In recent years, it has won many honors, such as National Famous Town for Casual Wear Production, National Clean Town, National Beautiful Township, National Town of Folk Arts, National Advanced Town of Mass Sports, Guangdong Civilized Town, Advanced Town of Education in Guangdong, Guangdong Provincial Town of Industry, Zhongshan Municipal Civilized Town, Zhongshan Municipal Town of Economy, etc.

In 2007, Shaxi Town achieved social output value of 16.8 billion yuan, GDP 1.38 billion yuan, industrial and agricultural output value 13.94 billion yuan; foreign trade export value of 276 million US dollars. Rural per capita annual income reached 10,046 yuan. And the proportion of agriculture, industry and tertiary sector was 2.9:61.7:35.4.

Herbal Tea and casual wear are two main products that make the town famous. Since reform and opening up, Shaxi has established an industrial system with textile as its pillar industry, electronics, chemical, furniture, household appliances, pharmaceutical, food, and beverage also achieved tremendous development. There are 21 enterprises with over a hundred million annual output. 197 companies are regarded as large enterprises, which contribute to 12.07 billion yuan of industrial output, accounting for 88 percent of all industries.

Shaxi is an important production base of casual wear. In 2007, there are more than 1,300 clothing enterprises, employing 43,500 people, producing 25 million dozen clothes, with over 70 billion yuan of sales and nearly 300 million US dollars export. Shaxi have many national fashion designers and more than 70 local brands, in which there is 1 national famous brand, 3 products exempted from national inspection, 9 Guangdong famous brands and 7 Guangdong famous trademarks. At the same time, it also provides processing services for a number of well-known casual wear brands home and abroad.

Shaxi is the host of China Casual Wear Fair. Since 2000, the annual China Casual Wear Fair (CHCW) has been successfully held for eight sessions. CHCW is China’s only exhibition featuring casual wear, which does show the concept of modern and professional operation modes, distinct business functions and activities with rich contents. All these merits win the recognition of exhibitors and professional buyers, and CHCW is recognized as one of China’s top 10 influential clothing expositions.

Agriculture in Shaxi is characterized by its suburban location. Farming land of the town covers 37,000 mu, which is an important "food basket" of Zhongshan City. Shaxi has built an agriculture system in which rice and vegetables serve as the foundation and aquaculture, husbandry and fruits serve as complement.

The tertiary industry is an important component of Shaxi economy. There are as many as 6,900 enterprises in the town. In 2007 the added value of tertiary industry was 1.49 billion yuan. There are specialized markets in Shaxi, like Yunhan Fabric Market, Longrui Small Commodities Market, Longdu Furniture Plaza; it has built Xingbao International Exhibition Center(15,000 square meters), and shopping pedestrian streets, such as Ligang Commercial Pedestrian Street, Xingbao Fashion Avenue, etc.

Shaxi Town boasts abundant culture with a history of 800 years. There are historical sites such as Longrui Tanhua arch, Wenchang Pagoda, Longshan Academy and so on. There were three major series of folk arts: Crane Dance and Crane Song, Dragon and Phoenix Dance, and Lion Dance. Crane Dance has also been invited to perform in South Korea. There are eight cultural associations in Shaxi Town, such as literature, calligraphy, dance, folk arts, poetry, photography, stamp collecting, folk art, etc.

Shaxi Town will take full advantage of its cultural and tourism resources and try to convert these resources into economic advantages. Shaxi will make tourism into a leading sector and promote business service industry through tourism. Furthermore, Shaxi will build the business circle of Xingbao and Langxin New Zone and promote the tertiary industry.

Shaxi aims to become an innovative, safe, harmonious and fascinating town. It will make efforts to build a modern town to promote the balanced development and harmony of economy and society.

II. Industrial Zones

Longxing Industrial Zone is a large industrial zone in Shaxi and it subordinates Longxing, Longsheng, Kangbei, Yonghou, Longgang and other areas. It is an effective carrier for the pillar industry-- textile and clothing as well as other industries such as electronics, chemical, furniture, household appliances, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, etc. In the zone there is a specialized garment-producing area covering over 400 hectares and over 1,000 garment companies as well as over 200 garment-related companies such as dyeing, printing, washing, trademark weaving, buttons, accessories machinery, etc.