Published : 07/09/2026
When speaking of Chang'an (長安), many people may think of the ancient capital Xi'an — a famous capital city in Chinese history with "Chang'an" being its old name. But in south China's Greater Bay Area, there is also a Chang'an — Chang'an Town in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province.
Without thousand-year-old city walls, this modern town only emerged after China's Reform and Opening-up started in 1987. Yet in the past decade or so, it has built up a smartphone kingdom that no one can ignore.
One out of every eight smartphones in the world is born here. How did this small town write an industrial legend?
Dongguan: A globally renowned smartphone production base
Chang'an Town, located at the southern end of Dongguan City (東莞市) and adjacent to Shenzhen, has a total area of about 80 square kilometres and a permanent population of about 804,000.
Despite its tiny footprint, this small locality has nurtured two Top 5 global smartphone brands, OPPO and vivo. It brings together over 1,000 upstream and downstream supporting enterprises, employing more than 200,000 people in the electronic information industry.
It has already formed an unparalleled industrial cluster, establishing itself as a world-renowned production base for smartphones.
In 2025, the gross regional product of Chang'an Town reached 110 billion RMB, making it a "100-billion-RMB town" at the national level for the second consecutive year.
The biggest contributor to this impressive record is none other than its vast electronic information sector.
The annual output value of its enterprises above designated size (typically referring to firms with an annual revenue from principal business of 20 million RMB or more) surpassed 200 billion RMB, accounting for over three-quarters of the town's total industrial output above designated size.
To put it more intuitively, for every 10 RMB of industrial wealth created in Chang'an Town, more than 7.5 RMB comes from the smartphone and related industries.
From OEM to "intelligent manufacturing"
So, what turned a small town into a world-class smartphone kingdom?
To trace the connection between Chang'an and the electronic information industry, we must start from the period after the Reform and Opening-up started.
At that time, Dongguan's dominant policy was processing trade and an export-oriented economy, and its "three supplies and one compensation" OEM manufacturing model quickly pushed Chang'an into the wave of industrialisation.
Chang'an adopted a "front shop, back factory" model, vigorously developing hardware mould and electronic component enterprises, and undertook the processing and manufacturing for the electronics industry from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea.
It was precisely in this environment that Changan gradually built up domestic-leading industrial supporting capabilities in the field of computer components.
The real seeds of the industry began to sprout in 1995.
In this year, Duan Yongping (段永平), who had created the legend of the "Subor" (小霸王) electronic learning machine, led his team to establish Guangdong BBK Electronics Industrial Co. Ltd. in Chang'an.
BBK's wireless telephones, video compact discs, and educational electronic products were hugely popular, and it once became the leading enterprise in Chang'an.
From then on, "electronics manufacturing" technology took root in Chang'an, nurturing a group of electronics engineers and management talent.
In 1998, Chang'an Town established the country's first town-level private economy office, introducing preferential policies to attract talent who had accumulated technology and capital in foreign-funded enterprises to start their own businesses. Private enterprises rose rapidly.
In 2004, the private enterprise spun off from BBK—OPPO (China)—was formally established in Chang'an, and in 2010, vivo Mobile Communication Co., Ltd. (vivo) also entered the market. From then on, the mobile phone industry developed rapidly.
In 2012, the OPPO Finder stunned the market as the world's thinnest smartphone (6.65 mm thick); soon after, vivo also launched a smartphone only 6.55 mm thick. Chang'an Town's mobile phone industry is constantly moving towards "intelligent manufacturing" through technological innovation.
In 2024, Dongguan's smartphone shipments already accounted for 24% of the global total. 1 in every 5 smartphones worldwide comes from Dongguan, while 1 in every 8 mobile phones globally is born in Chang'an Town.
As the core production area of the electronic information industry, Chang'an Town has already stepped onto the world stage.
Why Chang'an Town? How did Dongguan build a mobile phone kingdom?
There are so many powerful manufacturing towns in China, so why was it Chang'an Town that became a mobile phone kingdom?
This is primarily attributed to Chang'an Town's efficient "one-hour supply chain circle".
Within 5 kilometres of the OPPO Chang'an Industrial Park, there are about 67 supporting suppliers gathered. From the aluminium alloy frames of mobile phone casings to the blue glass filters of camera modules, everything can be sourced within a half-hour drive.
With Chang'an Town and the adjacent Songshan Lake District as the core, over 300 core smartphone supporting enterprises are clustered within a 30-kilometre radius. The supply support rate exceeds 85%, truly achieving the miracle of "a component being delivered in as fast as 2 hours from the time of order".
From a piece of glass to a single chip, from display screens to camera modules, top-tier suppliers for the key components required for a mobile phone can all be found around Chang'an. This deep industrial synergy has forged an unparalleled supply chain advantage.
If an efficient supply chain is Chang'an's "hard power", then the deep integration brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area has injected a continuous stream of "fresh vitality" into it.
Thanks to the planning of the Greater Bay Area's one-hour living circle, the geographical advantage of Chang'an Town being adjacent to Shenzhen has been infinitely amplified.
Not only is it close to the key technology zone, Songshan Lake Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, it is also seamlessly connected to Shenzhen, the "capital of innovation".
From Chang'an, you can enter Shenzhen's territory in as little as five minutes. This convenience of cross-city commuting allows for the unimpeded flow of talent, capital and technology.
Data from 2020 shows that 60 of Chang'an's industrial enterprises above a designated size had relocated from Shenzhen, mainly concentrating in the two major industries of hardware moulds and electronic information. This is the best illustration of the tiered industrial transfer and synergistic development within the Greater Bay Area.
It can be said that the establishment of Chang'an Town's mobile phone kingdom is the inevitable result of the Shenzhen-Dongguan synergy, capitalising on the development of the "9+2" cities in the Greater Bay Area.
How is Chang'an Town planning for the future ?
However, the smartphone market is becoming saturated. Industry competition is intensifying, and a new revolution in artificial intelligence (AI) is on the horizon.
Chang'an's leading enterprises have long been preparing for a rainy day.
For instance, OPPO has launched multiple foldable flagship phones, focusing on developing its own imaging chips.
Vivo, on the other hand, is deeply cultivating the imaging track, collaborating with Zeiss to enhance optical technology. Meanwhile, another brand, XTC for kids' smartwatches, has carved out a new track in smart wearables.
From computer components to smartphones, and from catching up to leading the pack, the legendary rise of Changan's smartphone empire in Dongguan lives on.
The rollout of a single smartphone from Changan serves as a microscopic microcosm of China's journey from a OEM hub and "world's factory" to a powerhouse of smart manufacturing.
This small town without city walls is showcasing its prowess to the world through high technology.
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