Chang Han-wen, the chairman of the Taiwan Business Association of Dongguan (TBAD), says that development started in the late 1980s. Hong Kong firms, with their proximity and fluent Cantonese (also the local dialect in Dongguan), were first. The Taiwanese, first coming about 1989, followed. Each arrival seemed to bring many more on its heels.
東莞台商投資企業協會（簡稱東莞台協）會長張漢文表示，東莞十餘年來的發展，一開始因為港商，「他們是老鄉，地利之便嘛」，爾後是台商，約從一九八九年前後開始，一個拉一個地過來。