The 2017 Guangdong 21st Century Maritime Silk Road International Expo, held between Sept 21 and 24, spotlighted the achievements made by Dongguan, Guangdong province, in supporting the Belt and Road Initiative and construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

As the host city of 2017 MSR Expo, Dongguan has long been regarded as a trade and manufacturing hub in China's Pearl River Delta region. In 2016, the city's foreign trade volume hit 561.66 billion yuan ($85.14 billion), up 20.9 percent year-on-year.

Dongguan hit No 3 in the ranking of Top 100 cities in Foreign Trade in 2016 published by the General Administration of Customs of China for the first time, according to Liang Weidong, mayor of Dongguan. Dongguan hailed as regional trade hub

In 2016, countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have collectively become the third-largest trading partner of Dongguan, with the volume accounting for one-fifth of the city's total import and export volume, said Liang.

The volume of foreign trade between Dongguan and Belt and Road countries and regions increased significantly since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013. The trade volume between Dongguan and Belt and Road countries and regions reached 241.72 billion yuan in 2016, increasing from 127.1 billion yuan in 2013.

"Over the past three years, the Expo has brought enormous business opportunities to enterprises and businessmen in countries and regions along the Belt and Road," said Chen Yunxian, director of the organizing committee of 2017 MSR Expo on its opening ceremony. "This year, the expo has also received a positive response from those countries and regions."

In 2017, the central government made a major strategic deployment to promote the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and build up a world-class city agglomeration there.

Dongguan is making full use of its location advantages as a city to connect Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macao, trying to build itself into a hub city in the plan.

Leveraging on its complete industrial chain, the city is promoting the local development in many fields, including upgrading its traffic systems, fueling innovation-driven industry, improving its level of opening-up as well as optimizing its financial services.