Dongguan's economy has been in a healthy momentum during the first five months, the city's Deputy Mayor Zhang Ke said on Saturday.

"We are confident that the city will meet its economic growth target this year," Zhang said.

Dongguan, in the heart of the Pearl River Delta, had been hard hit by the global financial crisis since 2008, as the city relied heavily on the processing trade for economic growth in the past three decades.

Zhang spoke to a group of foreign reporters from countries situated along the ancient Maritime Silk Road, which are visiting Guangdong, one of the economic powerhouses in South China.

According to Cai Kang, deputy director of Dongguan Bureau of Foreign Trade & Economic Cooperation, Dongguan's import and export value reached $47.4 billion, up 5.2 percent year-on-year in the first four months this year. The growth rate is higher than that of the province, he said.

The actual utilized foreign investment of the first four months maintained a steady growth of 15.4 percent, according to Cai.

qiuquanlin@chinadaily.com.cn