Sitting in the Pearl River Delta, the city of Dongguan in Guangdong province has become a magnet for ambitious young entrepreneurs to set up businesses, said Mo Haotang, founder of the World Dongguan Entrepreneurs Convention, which ran from Dec 13 to 14.

More than 1,200 businessmen from Dongguan, including those coming to the city to seek out business opportunities, attended this event. Among these, there were a handful of big names: Li Ning, founder of China's leading local sportswear marketer Feifan Sports; Wang Xuning, chairman of noted kitchen appliances manufacturer Joyoung; and Rita Fan Hsu Lai-tai, member of the National People's Congress Standing Committee.

Another highlight from the star-studded participants list was a group of 10 outstanding young Dongguan entrepreneurs, who were commended for their major contribution to business in Dongguan and their entrepreneurial spirit that proved them to be self-disciplined, open, pragmatic, enterprising and pioneering.

These 10 entrepreneurs were born in the 1970s and 1980s, with an average age of only 34.7.

"A great city needs great enterprises, and great enterprises need great entrepreneurs. Dongguan entrepreneurs are sought-after talent," said Dongguan Mayor Xiao Yafei.

Liu Jinsong is one of them. The 37-year-old CEO of Nine Dragons Paper Group, is the proven captain to his company's mighty vessel, sailing around the world.

In November, Nine Dragons Paper ranked 19th in the"2018 Guangdong Top 100 Private Enterprises" list, the highest among Dongguan-based enterprises.

Nine Dragons Paper Group started its journey toward its status as a world-leading recycled paper manufacturer back in 1995 in Dongguan, producing and selling linerboard, high performance corrugating medium, coated duplex board and packaging paperboard.

After testing the waters by being listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2006, Nine Dragons Paper began to expand its business scope overseas.

In November, the company completed the acquisition of a recycled pulp mill in West Virginia, in the United States.

In the first half of this year, it oversaw three similar transactions.

The success of Nine Dragons Paper is not only a shining example of how Dongguan entrepreneurs can move forward as a whole, but a microcosm of how China has progressed over the past four decades of reform and opening-up.