Robots produced in Dongguan for export. Export value of processing trade products in Dongguan witnessed a slow increase in recent years but the export value of general trade products rose sharply by 38.8 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year. Zhu Xingxin / China Daily

Processing trade companies in the Pearl River Delta are opening overseas manufacturing bases and turning to e-commerce to escape a downturn in their traditional business.

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The slump in the region, one of the world's workshops, is due to the slow recovery in overseas markets and the

authorities' drive to upgrade traditional industries, sources said.

Zhong Feifei, deputy administrative director of Meizhou Guowei Electronics Co, said that the company, which makes and sells telephone sets for Google Inc's Motorola Mobility division, has been struggling to increase business amid a slow overseas recovery.

"Usually, business in overseas markets softens after May. But we didn't see a business rebound at any time during the past five months," Zhong said.

Zhong made the remarks during the China Processing Trade Products Fair, which opened on Wednesday in Dongguan, a city known for its manufacturing and processing trade business.

The annual fair attracted more than 1,200 domestic manufacturers and some 6,300 buyers, mostly from the domestic market.

To diversify channels, the company is selling its products to domestic consumers on e-commerce platforms such as Tmall.com, according to Zhong.

"Sales in the domestic market currently represent a small percentage of our total business. We will make more efforts to promote our products online as the boom in e-commerce will mean more potential business in the domestic market," she said.