The Shunde District has an age-old tradition of being a center of trade, textile industry, as well as one of knowledge, science and culture. It was the most affluent county-level municipality and currently one of the most affluent administrative district in China. The modern Shunde is proud to carry on this tradition and is one of the biggest manufacturing center of household appliances, industry hardware, furniture, jeans, a time-honored flora and flower exporting center in China, with one of the biggest and leading polytechnic featuring higher vocational education. 

Shunde District is a district of Foshan, Guangdong Province, China. After the economic reform since 1978, it has become one of the most affluent administrative districts/counties in Guangdong province and mainland China. It has direct jurisdiction over four subdistricts and six towns.

Since 2009, as a unique district of any prefecture-level city in China, Shunde has been granted a degree of prefecture-level administrative autonomy over many matters, especially in terms of economy development.

After the reform and opening-up policy began to be implemented in 1978, Shunde, once a traditional agricultural county, gradually developed into a modern industrial affluent town. Shunde was approved as a pilot city for the comprehensive reform of Guangdong in 1993. From 2000 to 2003, Shunde was ranked first among China's top 100 counties for Basic Economic Competitiveness for four consecutive years (released by National Bureau of Statistics of China). In 2012 and 2013, Shunde was the top one among China's top 100 administrative districts. In 2013, Shunde achieved a huge GDP of 254.5 billion RMB (about 41.23 billion US dollars), which is the equivalent of or bigger than the GDP of some eastern European countries or provinces in China.

Some mainland Chinese famous companies like Midea or Hisense-Kelon have their headquarters or flagship factories in Shunde. Recently a new modern technology industrial park has also been opened in this area, featuring auto-part manufacturers co-funded with Toyota and telecommunication factories of Erickson.

Shunde is also a world-renowned tourism destination and an international gourmet capital where abundant culinary activities are organized. The city owns a rich and profound Cantonese culture and tourist economy which generated a total volume of 18.254 billion yuan in 2019. Tourist attractions include the Qinghui Garden, which is one of the Four Grand Gardens in Guangdong Province. Shunde also proudly established the biggest Bruce Lee Memorial Museum located in Junan town, where his family and ancestors originated. Shunfengshan Park is famous for the biggest memorial archway (88 metres in width and 38 metres in height) in the world.

Shunde district government attaches great importance in providing necessary pubic fund for education or various levels, including higher education and vocational training.