Shaodong, a well-known trade county in central China's Hunan Province, was 
officially upgraded to a county-level city on September 16.

Located in central Hunan, Shaodong serves as an important bond connecting the 
economic circle comprised of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, three important 
cities in Hunan.

It is a key export base in Hunan that exports its products globally upon the 
the Belt and Road Initiative, by taking advantage of the 30-odd specialized 
markets, 200-odd logistics lines, 300-odd enterprises engaging in imports and 
exports and 2,000-odd overseas sales platforms.

In 2018, the imports and exports of Shaodong surged by 32.6 percent year on 
year to 900 million U.S. dollars.

The city is also known as a banner of Hunan for its private economy, where the 
first private enterprise was born in Shaodong following China's reform and 
opening-up. Thanks to favorable policies, the city's private economy has been 
developing vigorously since the 1990s.

After years of efforts, there are now 600,000 Shaodong merchants spreading all 
over the world, selling commodities like lighters, bags and metal kits, making 
Shaodong enjoy the same reputation with Yiwu of east China's Zhejiang Province 
in terms of production and sales of small commodities.

With an area of less than 1,800 square kilometers, Shaodong has produced 70 
percent of the world's injection molding lighters and 40 percent of China's 
metal kits, and occupied 70 percent of China's schoolbag market share.

In 2018, Shaodong had seen its economic growth notch 11 percent, added value of 
industries above designated size rise by 11.4 percent and newly-established 
industrial enterprises with main business revenue of 20 million yuan and above 
reach 122, all ranking first in Hunan Province.

In the same year, it invested 26.6 billion yuan in fixed assets, up 20.6 
percent from 2017. Besides, the industrial parks invested by the city in fields 
like medical services have started construction or been finished and put into 
operation in succession, pushing up the economic growth of Shaodong.

In recent years, Shaodong has also vigorously promoted the development of 
intelligent manufacturing by increasing investment and accelerating technical 
transformation, greatly driving the high-quality development of the city. 

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SOURCE: Xinhua Silk Road Information Service