THERE are many designated special economic zonesand coastal cities in Guangdong Province. Foshan is not one of them, but its economic strength is nonetheless well known throughout the province. Statistics over the past two decades are testament to Foshan's rapid growth. In 1978, the city's GDP stood at 1.296 billion yuan. Twelve years later it had increased tenfold to 13.673 bil-lion yuan, and by 2001 it had reached 106.836 billion yuan. Foshan thus became Guangdong Province's sole prefecture-level city, and one of the few in the whole of China to achieve a level of GDP in excess of 100 billion vuan.