The current situation of hardware processing factories in Dongguan: In the past few years, the overall grade of China's hardware industry was not very high. There were many small and medium-sized enterprises with a relatively low starting point, mostly small workshops. In recent years, there have been significant changes. One aspect is the improvement in personnel quality. For instance, the person in charge of the "China Hardware City", which is currently to be built in Beijing and is the largest hardware market in the country, are all doctors or postdoctoral researchers. The second is the improvement in craftsmanship and management. Factories like Dongguan Hardware Processing Factory have already reached a relatively high level in terms of craftsmanship and management.

At present, the production technology standards of hardware processing factories in Dongguan vary greatly. Many large foreign manufacturers take China as their product processing base, and a considerable number of international enterprises have entered the mainland market one after another. Chinese hardware products are in a stage of renewal and upgrading, a transitional period from mid-to-low-end to high-end products. This is highly beneficial for the development of China's hardware industry. During the process of transferring the production of foreign products to China, it is inevitable that some advanced production techniques and management models from abroad, including raw materials, will be brought in.

From the perspective of traditional hardware, first, in the field of tools, such as manual tools, hydraulic tools, and electric tools, the development has been relatively rapid. Second, in terms of building hardware and decorative hardware, the pace of renewal and replacement is relatively fast. The market demand for hardware components is huge. In Handan, Hebei Province, there is a small processing factory with a very backward production process. Its sales force across the country has reached over 100,000.

After more than a decade of accumulation and steady improvement, China's hardware industry has now become the world's largest producer, with exports growing steadily every year. Among them, the largest export value was for tool products, reaching 5.34 billion US dollars. The second is building hardware, amounting to 4.34 billion US dollars. Faucet exports reached 2.23 billion US dollars and lock exports amounted to 680 million US dollars. The countries with the largest export volumes are the United States, Japan, Europe and South Korea. The annual export of China's hardware industry is growing at a rate of about 8%. Last year, the export value of hardware products exceeded 5 billion US dollars, ranking third in the export ranking of light industry. Due to the improvement of China's hardware manufacturing level and the expansion of production capacity, it is expected that China's hardware products will still maintain a stable growth of over 10% annually in the next five years. In the first ten months, the import and export volume of China's hardware and mechanical and electrical products exceeded 500 billion US dollars. The trade surplus further expanded, accumulating to 7.06 billion US dollars, accounting for 64% of the national trade surplus during the same period. The changes in the international hardware market provide good opportunities for the export of China's hardware products.​