As the main battleground for the construction of the “Two Heyuan” initiative, Dongyuan County has seen a new wave of accelerated revitalization and development in recent years.

Based on the actual ecological environment and local conditions, the Dongyuan County Party Committee and County Government have scientifically planned and implemented a regional development strategy led by functional zones. They are focused on transforming the county seat and industrial parks into the core and leading areas of Dongyuan’s development, forging a new path amid changing circumstances and promoting the coordinated development of the ecological environment and economic construction.

Optimizing Urban Layout to Promote Coordinated Development

Dongyuan County adheres to a planning-first approach to optimize urban layout, breaking through the limitations of administrative boundaries. It has fully implemented a development strategy led by functional zones, dividing the entire county into four major functional zones: the Urban Economic Zone, the Eastern Resource Economic Zone, the Wanlv Lake Ecological Development Zone , and the Dengtaba Basin Zone . By fully leveraging the strengths of each zone, the county is establishing a new regional development framework and accelerating coordinated regional development.

Building on this foundation, Dongyuan County has defined the boundaries and functional roles of each functional zone based on their underlying conditions, resource endowments, and stages of development , implementing targeted guidance:

The Urban Economic Zone serves as the core area for implementing the urban economic driving strategy. It adheres to the principles of concentration, moderate expansion, and quality-driven development, accelerating the integration and alignment with the functions of other districts in the city’s central urban area to establish itself as the core and leading zone for Dongyuan County’s development. The Dengtaba Basin Area functions as a secondary urban center, forming a dual-core driving mechanism with the central urban area. The Eastern Resource Economic Zone and the Wanlv Lake Ecological Development Zone provide essential support in terms of resources and industries for the development of the Urban Economic Core Zone.

By adhering to a regional development strategy led by functional zones, Dongyuan County has significantly expanded its urban development space. This highly forward-looking and visionary conceptual plan has attracted a large number of high-quality enterprises to invest and establish operations here, engaging in strategic cooperation with Dongyuan County across various sectors and injecting strong momentum into breaking through bottlenecks and enhancing the efficiency of regional economic development.

Defining Regional Positioning and Developing Distinctive Industries

Taking full integration into the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as its starting point, Dongyuan County has centered its efforts on the positioning of “a new platform for receiving industrial transfers from the Greater Bay Area.” It has consistently implemented an innovation-driven strategy, pursuing a new path of high-quality development guided by ecological priorities and green development.

In recent years, Dongyuan County has utilized investment promotion as a key strategy, adopting a high-end approach to focus on developing eco-friendly industries and strategic emerging industries. An industrial clustering pattern dominated by emerging sectors such as electronic information, smart manufacturing, and new materials has begun to take shape.

Building upon the vigorous development of its three leading industries—electronic information, intelligent manufacturing, and new materials—Dongyuan has leveraged the characteristics of industrial spillover from the Greater Bay Area to further clarify its investment promotion strategy. The county has identified industrial equipment manufacturing, automotive parts manufacturing, and modern logistics as key breakthrough sectors, aiming to achieve complementary and coordinated development with the Heyuan National High-Tech Industrial Development Zone.

Adhering to Innovation-Driven Development to Build a Smart Industrial Park

Focusing on innovation means focusing on development; planning for innovation means planning for the future. In park development, Dongyuan County adheres to science and technology leadership, strengthens innovation-driven development, promotes industry-university-research collaboration, and intensifies efforts to attract and cultivate talent, thereby creating a new engine for the park’s transformation and sustainable development.

Dongyuan County established the Dongyuan-Guangdong University of Technology Modern Industry Collaborative Innovation Research Institute to precisely leverage the innovative resources of Guangdong University of Technology, promote scientific and technological services and the commercialization of research outcomes, and provide enterprises with resources and technical consulting for innovation. It also spearheaded the establishment of the Dongyuan County Industrial Development Zone Association for Science and Technology, which regularly organizes enterprises to conduct innovation training, exchanges, and talent recruitment activities.It has established the County Science and Technology Innovation Service Center, stationing staff permanently within the park to oversee innovation support for enterprises. In particular, the addition of Academician Peng Shou of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and his team has played a significant role in advancing scientific research in the silicon-based new materials industry. This will accelerate the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, striving to convert Dongyuan’s resource advantages into developmental strengths and establish a new benchmark for ecological economic development.

Through the implementation of the High-Tech Enterprise Doubling and Benchmarking and Quality Improvement Plans, Dongyuan County has driven rapid growth in the park’s high-tech industries. Spurred by various innovation policies, the awareness and capacity for independent innovation among enterprises within the park are continuously strengthening.

At the same time, addressing the current lack of provincial-level key laboratories among enterprises in the park, Dongyuan County has established a system for pairing key technology enterprises with government support and an incentive mechanism for high-tech enterprises. This has facilitated the establishment of provincial-level key laboratories by companies such as Fuma Hard Alloy, Xinda Technology, and Dongrui Food.

Standing at a historic juncture in the new era, Dongyuan will guide urban development with advanced planning, adhere to the principle of “urban areas driving rural areas,” improve the mechanism for urban economies to drive growth, expand and strengthen the core of the urban economy, and radiate and drive the economic development of townships. This will make the county seat a vital pillar for fulfilling regional functions and inject strong momentum into regional economic development.