In pictures: A day in the life of Wenzhou

One of the many Chinese cities helping to transform the national and world economies is Wenzhou. Many outside China may not even have heard of the city, in coastal Zhejiang province, but it is undergoing fast growth and a retail boom.

In the old city the back streets are lined with hundreds of small garment shops while local businessmen lead the investment in large factories exporting goods to rest of the world.

Photographer Alex Hofford spent 24 hours capturing the life of its inhabitants.