Dongguan's economy not hurt by sex-trade crackdown_美文

Dongguan's economy not hurt by sex-trade crackdown

"Exports, which are yet to be officially announced by the customs authority, also had a good performance in the first three months," Yuan said.

"Frankly, I was surprised to learn that the illegal sex trade industry had become so rampant in Dongguan. We had to admit that such a social evil did exist in the city, and we had to work out measures to tackle the problem," Yuan said.

Early media reports estimated that at least 300,000 people worked in Dongguan's sex industry, and that the sector combined with related services could account for about 10 percent of the local economy.

But Yuan said that the hotel and entertainment industry along with massage services made up only 1.5 percent of the city's economy, or about 8.3 billion yuan ($1.34 billion).

"The entertainment industry was not all related to the illegal sex trade industry. We have never calculated how much the prostitution industry contributed to the economy," Yuan said.

Yuan said Dongguan's economy will maintain a stable performance this year, as the city has developed a solid foundation in industrial transformation over the past few years.

The city's economy is expected to grow by 9 percent year-on-year in 2017, the local government said. Altogether 156 large key projects are planned to drive the economy this year.

Lin Jiang, head of the public finance and taxation department of Lingnan College at Sun Yat-sen University, said Dongguan's economy will maintain its upward momentum in the years ahead if the traditional manufacturing industries relying heavily on processing trade are upgraded and more high-tech projects are introduced to the city.