Manufacturing powerhouse Dongguan in Guangdong province is now redoubling efforts to develop innovation and high-tech industries.

Located in the heart of the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan has been restructuring its industries by investing more in R&D as well as developing home-grown brands and its own consumer market, said city officials.

Among the efforts is Songshan Lake High-tech Industrial Development Zone.

Unlike some other high-tech zones in China, the Songshan Lake zone has developed institutes offering creativity to the public and companies in product design, technology development and branding, according to a report from the city government.

The zone has 19 institutes called "public technology innovative platforms", collaborative projects with Peking University, Tsinghua University, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and many others.

At the center of Dongguan, the zone borders Guangzhou to the north, and Shenzhen and Hong Kong to the south. Its three major industries are electronic information, biotechnology and modern services.

According to statistics from the zone, it generated 4.9 billion yuan ($784.5 million) in GDP in the first three months this year, up 15.1 percent year-on-year. It plans to seal deals on 57 new projects worth 1.5 billion yuan by the end of the year.

The South China Innovative Design Institute, one of the 19 content providers in the zone, has designed more than 1,400 products worth over 50 billion yuan since its founding by the Dongguan city government and Guangdong University of Technology in 2006.

A provider of product design, manufacturing, and branding and marketing services, the institute set up a development center last year for comic and animation spin-offs, the first of its kind in Dongguan.

The institute has also designed a robot, an extremely slim mouse, tablet PCs for medical use, energy-efficient cookware and a variety of apps for mobile devices.

fuchao@chinadaily.com.cn