And in the next three to five years, the city plans to build two industrial clusters of artificial intelligence and health to create output worth at least 100 billion yuan ($14.26 billion). Dongguan's geographical location and its proximity to the Bay Area cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen give it an edge as this offers it scope to benefit from innovation there, said Zhang Jingan, executive vice-president of the China Science Center of International Eurasian Academy of Sciences.

For 2018, the total volume of Dongguan's foreign trade surpassed 1.3 trillion yuan.

And by the end of 2018, more than 470 companies from Dongguan had invested in overseas markets, with the total investment surpassing $1.3 billion, official data showed.

The 17th Asian Marathon Championships and the Dongguan International Marathon 2019 attract some 30,000 runners and 42 athletes from 16 countries and regions. CHINA DAILY

Last year, Dongguan planned to invest more than 3 billion yuan in the next three years to establish the city as a hub for attracting technical talent.

In addition to the economic and industrial development, the city's progress can be also seen in its to bid improve its social welfare sector.

The city has pooled human resources of 1.95 million professionals including 126,000 high-profile ones. And Dongguan ranked sixth among the most popular cities in China for graduates in 2019.

"To make a breakthrough in high-quality development, Dongguan must drive socio-economic transformation with its city upgrades," Liang said.

"It must strengthen the city's landscaping and management and imprint it in people's hearts," he added.