Lying in the central-southern part of Guangdong Province and to the east of the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders Guangzhou (the capital city of Guangdong Province) to the north, Huizhou to northeast, Shenzhen to the south and the Pearl River to the west. The city is 47 nautical miles from Hong Kong and 48 nautical miles from Macau. It covers an area of 2,465 sq km and has a population of roughly 6.9 million. This convenient location brings great development opportunities, many of which have been seized by Dongguan.

However, aside from this great advantage, Dongguan also benefits from a well-established transportation infrastructure. The Guangzhou-Shenzhen Highway, the Dongguan-Shenzhen Highway and State Highway 107 all cut through the city. Dongguan is also at the juncture of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, the Guangzhou-Shenzhen Railway, the Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway. Though no airport is available within Dongguan, the city is easily accessible by air. Five large airports, namely Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, Hong Kong International Airport, Foshan Airport and Zhuhai Airport, are all within a 3-hour drive to or from the city.