According to the record of "Shunde County Annals", as far back as Song Dynasty, Shunde was renowed as a fertile "Land of Fish, Rice, Flower and Fruit". In Ming Dynasty, the filature industry was booming in Shunde by virtue of the breeding mode of "Mulberry Tree around Fish Ponds". At the end of 19th century and beginning of 20th century, the filature industry reached it meridian and drove the nongovernmental financial to develop vigorously, thereby Shunde had been reputed to "A Silk Town of Southland" and "Bank of Guangdong". After the founding of the People's Republic of China, particularly since the implementation of the reform and opening up policy, Shunde people has given full play to their advantages in terms of policies, geographical position and culture to take the lead in implementing a series of comprehensive system reforms including the reform of enterprise property rights system and the reform of administrative system with the spirit of " Holding together, Struggle, Seeking After Truth and Innovation" and the boldness of vision on "Being Bold Enough to be the First in the World", making Shunde develop into a modern industrial boomtown from a traditional agriculture county. Shunde's miraculous rise has aroused widespread concern across the country, and this was reputed as "Shunde Phenomenon" and "Shunde Model".
　　Deng Xiaoping, chief architect of China's reform and opening-up had paid a visit to Shunde twice. In 1992, Comrade Deng Xiaoping put forward the celebrated thesis of "Development is of Overriding Importance" and encouraged Shunde to be "Emancipating the Mind Further, More Courageous and Quickening the Pace" in his southern inspection tour to Shunde. Under the warm care and great support of higher authorities, Shunde had achieved the great-leap-forward development from planned economy to market economy, from rural economy to urban economy and from regional economy to international economy successively. In 1993, Shunde was approved as a pilot city for the comprehensive reform of Guangdong. In 1999, Shunde was appointed as a pilot city for taking the lead in basically accomplishing modernization.
　　Now, Shunde, as a emerging new city of Pearl River Delta Central, become an importand domestic producing base of household electrical appliances, furniture, gas appliances and daily necessities. Among which the production sales volume of electric appliances and gas appliances are respectively 10% and 31% of the whole country output. Made-in-Shunde has become a proud of China. China National Hardware Association granted Shunde a title as "The Capital of China Gas Appliance", and China Household Electrical Appliances Association as well as China National Light Industry Council granted Shunde as "The Capital of China Household Electrical Appliance". Besides, Shunde is also given the title of "The Home of China Coating" by China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association and China Coating Industrial Association.
　　Shunde had a good reputation as "One of The Guangdong Four Tigers". According to the statistics in 1995, the GDP of Shunde (press are calculated at 1990 constant prices) reached to 12 billion yuan, the gross output value of industry and agriculture was 37.428 billion yuan, the gross foreign trade export value amountd to be 1.22 billion yuan, the financial income was 1.81 billion yuan, the income of the workers was 9800 yuan per capita, net income of the farmer was 4038 yuan, and the banking deposit balance of the urban and rural residents was up to 17.37 billion yuan. Shunde was the NO.1 of the Top 100 Counties of China in 2000 to 2003, but the place insteaded by Kunshan in the second year after amalgamated with Foshan in 2004. And in 2006,Shunde become the first administrative county of China which the GDP was over 100 billion yuan, higher than it in Qinghai Province, Gansu Province, Tibet, Ningxia Province and Hainan Province.