Shilong of Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, was recently approved as China's first pilot town of informationization.

At present, its industrial economy has formed a development pattern with electronic information, medicine and foodstuff as pillar industries and under the pattern, economic development is boosted by science and technology. In 1999, its GDP totaled 1.7 billion yuan, up by 18 percent over the year before, its total industrial output value amounted to 2.655 billion yuan and it earned foreign exchange valued at US$0.114 billion through export.

To seek new points of economic growth, Shilong Town has formulated its new strategy for upgrading its industry by relying on science and technology and expediting its economic development by taking information industry as the breakthrough. It is reported that as an informationization pilot town, its main projects include trunk transmission network, public information desk, electronic business, electronic government affair, long-range education, medical service, intellectualized community, and infomationized humane environment. With the completion of these projects, the town will gradually possess internationally advanced information infrastructure, and will be able to realize the fast transmission and full utilization of varied information and its information application ability will approach the level of cities in developed countries.