Manufacturing mecca back to work after long holiday

In the production workshop of Emma CNC Technology Co in Dongguan, Guangdong province, workers are busy debugging intelligent cutting devices and directing them to cut out desired patterns based on preset programs, with efforts gearing up for production after the Spring Festival holiday.

"We resumed operations on the eighth day of the Chinese New Year, with all production lines operating at full capacity to fulfill orders," said Wang Guoquan, chairman of Emma CNC.

The workshop scene at Emma CNC was a vivid snapshot of the resumption of production in Dongguan, an advanced manufacturing mecca in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with operators — from intelligent workshops to industrial parks — swiftly switching to a mode of rushing to meet orders.

As of Tuesday, the 14th day of the Year of the Snake, the city's overall resumption rate of enterprises reached 98.72 percent, with approximately 3.36 million workers having resumed their duties, according to the local government.

"Although it's just the beginning of the Chinese New Year, our order volume from business partners is quite substantial," said Wang.

The company's order volume in the first half has increased by around 30 percent compared to the same period last year, with orders from the furniture and automotive sectors growing particularly fast.

The company's overall order growth for 2025 is expected to exceed 50 percent year-on-year, Wang added.

Inside the Dongguan Binhaiwan Bay Area, numerous vehicles are seen entering and exiting the high-tech industrial park, with workers either busy unloading and moving goods, or closely monitoring production lines in the workshops.

Guangdong Xiangguan Optoelectronics Co Ltd, which is engaged in the production of mid- to high-end light-emitting diodes and LED application products, has fully resumed operations after the long holiday.

As of the eighth day of Chinese New Year, the company's return-to-work rate had reached 85 percent, with employees already busy debugging production line equipment.

After moving to Binhaiwan, the company — with an area of over 6,000 square meters and more than 200 employees — invested nearly 30 million yuan ($4.11 million) in equipment upgrades and promoted production intelligence, helping expand production lines by 30 percent.

With reduced labor costs and increased production efficiency, the company's output value reached 130 million yuan in 2024, said Zhang Guoxiang, chairman of Xiangguan.

"We aim to increase output value to 150 million yuan while intensifying research and development efforts for new product models to continuously meet customer needs," Zhang said.

To ensure smooth starts for firms' resumption of operations in 2025, departments such as the local human resources and social security, as well as industry and information technology, have joined forces to tackle labor shortages and drive stable production by implementing measures such as interprovincial recruitment and policy support for labor forces.

Starting from the fifth day of the Chinese New Year holiday, human resources and social security authorities have been helping local enterprises to conduct labor exchanges in Tongren, Guizhou province, and other cities in Hunan province, offering over 3,800 job positions and securing employment intentions from 1,050 job seekers.

Through chartered high-speed trains and buses, about 1,500 migrant workers from Tongren and Bijie, Guizhou have returned to their workplaces in Dongguan, with an estimated 3,000 more expected to return during the first month of the Chinese New Year.

In a recent move, the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Dongguan once again helped local enterprises to conduct interprovincial recruitment activities in Ji'an, Jiangxi province, to support companies in attracting workers.

Moreover, six offline job fairs in Ji'an and Nanning, capital of the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, have attracted participation from 34 Dongguan-based enterprises, offering over 5,200 jobs and helping further expand the labor force.

The city has also made efforts to promote the innovative development of key industries such as smart mobile terminals, industrial machines and robots through activities like industry chain matchmaking events.

Dongguan plans to conduct more than 20 such events in the current quarter to help local enterprises expand their markets and stabilize their operations.