The Pearl River Delta (PRD) looked as if it was beginning to tire last year as the economic downturn sapped its front running status as the world’s product workshop and China's engine of growth.

The PRD has, after all, been the pacesetter for China's opening up and economic reform for more than 30 years; so all the more devastating was the sudden fall in demand overseas last year for light industrial goods, which spelled trouble for thousands of PRD-based factories.........