A garment maker in Dongguan prepares for the online shopping spree ahead of Singles Day. [Photo/China Daily]

According to Xu, Dongguan has developed about 200 companies that are engaged in producing and using industrial robots, with an annual market demand of around 10,000 robotic machines in the city.

Citing a local precision mold processing plant, which has replaced nearly 2,000 workers with 1,000 robotic arms, Xu said the introduction of robots would help greatly improve production efficiency.

"Robotic machinery, along with other smart equipment, plays an important role in upgrading local manufacturing and boosting its competitiveness in the global market," said Xu.

The introduction of smart equipment in big companies has helped expand sales and improve production, but small businesses, which are mostly engaged in labor-intensive processing, are facing great pressures, with some closing in the past few years.

"Hundreds of factories have shut down in the past year due to the global economic slowdown, but the number is limited and within a reasonable range, and more investment in high-end business is coming in," Xu said in a recent interview with domestic and overseas media groups.

About 500 factories shut down or went bankrupt in Dongguan in 2015, but the number of newly registered enterprises in the city was "three times" as much as the number of those that closed, according to Xu.

"So, there was not a wave of factory closures or capital flight in Dongguan, given that the city witnessed more new foreign contracts signed in 2015," said Xu, adding that the city's new foreign investment reached $5.3 billion last year.

Since China embarked on reform and opening up in the late 1970s, foreign investors from more than 40 countries and regions have been attracted to Dongguan, once an important agricultural area in Guangdong province.

According to the local government, 11,000 foreign-funded enterprises have operations in the city, with utilized foreign capital reaching nearly $80 billion.

"Dongguan remains a powerful economic engine, partly fueled by industrial upgrading and the introduction of more advanced businesses," said Xu.