Guzhen () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

situated on the northwest periphery of the city of

Zhongshan Zhongshan ( zh, c=中山 ), alternately romanized via Cantonese as Chungshan, is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is n ...

Pearl River Delta The Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region is the low-lying area surrounding the Pearl River estuary, where the Pearl River flows into the South China Sea. Referred to as the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area in official documents, ...

Guangdong Province ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, some from the city center. The town is best known for manufacturing lighting. In recent years the town has grown into a place with thousands of small and big factories all related to lighting in one way or the other. Many international lighting companies have factories and showrooms in Guzhen town, which is about one and a half hours drive from

Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport is an international airport serving Guangzhou, Guangdong, China. The airport codes were inherited from the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport (former), former Baiyun Airport, and the IATA code is de ...

. From

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

, it takes two hours to reach the Zhongshan ferry terminal and another 30 minutes to Guzhen Town. The population of Guzhen Town is estimated at 75,000 permanent residents with a floating population of up to 30,000.

Administration

The area of Guzhen is divided into twenty administrative districts each with a resident committee.

Geography

The town of Guzhen is bordered by

Jiangmen Jiangmen ( zh, c=江门), postal map romanization, alternately romanization of Chinese, romanized in Cantonese as Kongmoon, is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong provinces of China, Province in southern China. It consists of three urban distri ...

to the West, with the

Xi river The Xi River (; ) or Si-Kiang is the western tributary of the Pearl River in southern China. It is formed by the confluence of the Gui and Xun Rivers in Wuzhou, Guangxi. It originates from the eastern foot of the Maxiong Mountain in Quji ...

serving as a boundary. The Xi river forms part of the

Pearl River The Pearl River (, or ) is an extensive river system in southern China. "Pearl River" is often also used as a catch-all for the watersheds of the Pearl tributaries within Guangdong, specifically the Xi ('west'), Bei ('north'), and Dong ( ...

Foshan Foshan (, ; Chinese: 佛山) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong Province, China. The entire prefecture covers and had a population of 9,498,863 as of the 2020 census. The city is part of the western side of the Pearl River Delta m ...

borders Guzhen to the north.

Economics

Lighting industry

Dubbed the "Lighting Capital of China" by the China Light Industry Council and China Association of Lighting Industry, Guzhen is the largest production base of lighting fittings in China and one of the four largest lighting fitting distributing centers in the world. In 2001, lighting fittings produced in Guzhen made up 60% of the Chinese market with exports reaching $1 billion. The production of lighting fittings is the primary industry in Guzhen, accounting for nearly 88% of the town's industrial output. The development of the lighting fittings industry in Guzhen can be traced back to the late 1970s, however, the first significant developments took place from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Due to the rapid economic development of China, Guzhen's lighting fittings industry has undergone unprecedented growth in the past two decades. Guzhen's growth at the turn of the millennium was unprecedented, boasting a 50% increase in lighting enterprises from 1999 to 2001, with exports increasing from $40 million to $250 million. In the year 2013, total exports for lighting items from Guzhen Town exceeded $1 billion, as per unofficial sources. While Guzhen now primarily produces non-branded OEM goods for international companies, it has spawned some domestic players in the industry, such as: Huayi, Opple lighting, Senqiu, and BECO Lights.

References

*http://www.zsguzhen.gov.cn/bmfw/news.asp?id=17964 *http://www.gzlightingfair.com/en/Home/About_Us *https://web.archive.org/web/20131130012506/http://www.opple.com/about/company.jsp *https://web.archive.org/web/20131206010047/http://jm.gd.vnet.cn/

External links

Guzhen Town Government Official Website
{{Zhongshan Zhongshan Township-level divisions of Guangdong