The Hidden Figures
Behind Zhongshan Goods Going Global 

I came to Zhongshan over 20 years ago. It’s a small city in Guangdong province and most people have never heard of it. However, almost everybody knows someone or something that came from this town. 

20多年前，我来到中山。这座广东的小城市当时还鲜为人知。然而，几乎每个人都听说过这个城市的某个人或某件事。

The most important one is that it's the home of Doctor Sun Yat sen.160 years ago, he was born here. He's also called Sun Wen or Sun Zhongshan. When he passed away in 1925, his hometown Shanagshan was renamed in his honour to Zhongshan.

其中最重要的一点是，这里是孙中山先生的故乡。160年前，他诞生于此。他又名孙文或孙中山。1925年孙中山逝世时，他的家乡香山为纪念他而改名为中山。

In Zhongshan, there are many landmarks related to Sun Yat-sen. One of them is the place where I am now-- Sun Wen West Historical and Cultural Block. We can sense the spirit of Zhongshan people as pioneers in Modern China, reflected in its historic buildings.

在中山，有许多与孙中山名字相关的地标。其中之一便是我现在所处的孙文西路历史文化街区。从这里的历史建筑中，我们可以感受到中山人作为中国近代先驱的精神风貌。

For example, the buildings are former sites of the Shekki Office of Sincere Company Limited., and the Wing On Overseas Remittance Bureau—both Sincere and Wing On being among the Four Major Department Stores of Modern China. Actually, the entire history of Chinese department store shopping all started here in Zhongshan, as all of the founders of the Four Major Department Stores came from Zhongshan. They introduced fixed pricing, window displays, escalators, restaurants, and entertainment floors that transformed Chinese consumer culture. They not only dominated the entire Shanghai shopping scene until the Second World War, but also expanded their business overseas including in my homeland Australia.   

比如，这些建筑原先是先施石岐分部和永安侨批局。先施和永安都属于中国近代四大百货。实际上，整个中国百货商场的历史，可以说是始于中山。因为这四大百货的创始人都来自中山。他们引入了明码实价、橱窗陈列、自动扶梯，开创了餐饮娱乐楼层，改变了中国的消费文化。他们不仅在二战前雄踞上海滩的百货业，还将业务拓展至海外，包括我的家乡澳大利亚。

That entrepreneurial spirit seems to grow from Zhongshan's soil and hasn't stopped there. Nowadays, from sporting goods to lights, from high tech to shoes, from jeans to sex dolls and from kitchen appliances to AI, almost everything that China can offer the world that can be found in Zhongshan.

这种创业精神从中山的土壤中生根发芽，至今仍蓬勃生长。今时今日，从体育用品到灯具，从高科技到鞋履，从牛仔服饰到充气娃娃，从厨房电器到人工智能，几乎所有中国能提供给世界的商品都能在中山找到。

A large-scale campaign known as "Guangdong Goods Go Global " will run throughout 2026. Not long ago, the related event " Zhongshan Products, Shanghai Bound" came to an end. Zhongshan collected 109 signed cooperation projects with a total value of 6.13 billion yuan. The sales of goods in three days reached 1.16 million yuan, which shows the attraction of Zhongshan products. This event also presented a multidimensional showcase encompassing intelligent manufacturing, everyday life, and cultural tourism.    From February 7th to 8th, another trade fair was held in Shenzhen, creating a new platform for industrial interaction and consumer engagement between the two cities.

一场名为“广货行天下”的大型推广活动将在2026年全年展开。不久前，其相关活动“中山百货进上海”完美收官。中山共收获合作签约项目109个，总金额61.3亿元。三天展销期间，商品销售额达1.16亿元，充分展现了中山制造的魅力。这项活动也是对中山这座城市的多维度展示，覆盖智能制造、品质生活、文旅体验等方面。2月7日至8日，另一场展销会在深圳举行，为两地产业联动和消费互动搭建新平台。

The connection between the entrepreneurs and the spirits of the time should be noticed. The prosperity of industries cannot be achieved alone. 

The core competitiveness of Zhongshan products stems from local industrial clusters and coordinated development with surrounding cities. These trade fairs not only showcase "high-quality products" but also serve as platforms for the flow of production factors such as capital, technology, and talent. 

我们应当关注企业家与时代脉搏的共振，单打独斗无法造就产业繁荣。中山产品的核心竞争力源于本地的产业集群和与周边城市的协同发展。这些展销会不仅在展示高质量产品，更是在搭建资本、技术、人才等生产要素的交流平台。

From this, we can see that Chinese cities in the GBA are replacing traditional capacity expansion with innovation-driven approaches and they’re substituting closed markets with open ecosystems. This path of prioritizing high-quality development is not only a practice of the "dual circulation" strategy but also provides a "Chinese approach" for the restructuring of global industrial chains.

由此可见，位于中国粤港澳大湾区的城市正以创新驱动替代传统产能拓展，用开放生态替代封闭市场。这种“高质量发展优先”的路径，既是对“双循环”战略的实践，也为全球产业链重构提供了“中国方案”

出品：中山市海外传播中心
编导：廖薇
视频摄制：黄艺杰
翻译： 廖薇 曾嘉慧 实习生 武紫睿
封面设计：陈思理
撰稿/出镜：Jerry