Shenzhen, adjacent to Hong Kong, opens a window of opportunities and trial field of China's reform and drive. After about 30 years of development, Shenzhen has formed an industrial system of high-tech industry &manufacturing industry, logistic, finance and cultural industry.
It is hard to imagine the pace of change in China today until you visit a place like Shenzhen. Shenzhen is famous for being the world's fastest growing urban centre – in 30 years it has expanded its population 300-fold from about 30,000 in 1980 when it was set up as China's first special economic zone to just under 10 million today. Back then it barely had a serviceable road to link it to the outside world, today Shenzhen is China's best equipped logistics hub. It has the world's fourth largest container seaport (and is on course to become the world's largest in 10 years) and has the fourth largest airport in China.
One of the consequences of this speed of growth is that many of the things you think you know about Shenzhen are obsolete before you have time to adjust to them. Most people, for example, still think of its economy as being entirely driven by low-cost manufacturing, but over the last decade Shenzhen has been quietly transforming itself from a manufacturing centre to a centre of innovation and design.
Going Up-market
The late 1990s saw a dramatic expansion in Shenzhen's output of hi-tech goods. The combination of its excellent telecommunications and logistics infrastructure made it an ideal base for companies' research, development and manufacturing centers. The hi-tech industry, mainly computer software, hardware and access network equipment – has had the fastest growth and the strongest competitive edge in Shenzhen.
As its products have gone 'up-market', Shenzhen has also raised its sights in terms of where it wants to be in the urban food chain. The step up from manufacturing products to designing them is, of course, a major hurdle, but Shenzhen has been able to reposition itself as China’s most creative city. It now has a vibrant graphic and industrial design industry, with more than 6,000 design companies and 60,000 designers. It has also developed a niche in digital content and online interactive design, and has carved out a reputation for novel practices in packaging design. Shenzhen has also established itself as one of the top three print media centres in China.
International recognition of Shenzhen's new status came late 2008, when the city was named 'City of Design' by UNESCO – the UN body devoted to promoting international collaboration in the educational, scientific and cultural fields. UNESCO's 'creative cities network', launched at the end of 2004, will enable Shenzhen to promote the local creative scene and create new opportunities, especially in collaboration with the five other member cities – Buenos Aires of Argentina, Berlin of Germany, Montreal of Canada and Kobe and Nagoya of Japan.
"Communicating and cooperating with other members of UNESCO's creative cities network, Shenzhen will again be a window to show Chinese design and innovation to the world," said Zhang Xinsheng, director of the Chinese National Commission for UNESCO and vice-minister of education. "The award will also have positive influence on the city's innovative industries."
Creative Capital
To be a successful design and innovation centre you need a highly-educated and creative workforce. This, ordinarily, would be one of the biggest obstacles to a city wanting to go up a step on the production ladder. Shenzhen has been helped out here, however, by China's unusual demographics. Since 2003, China has been producing the largest number of fresh graduates in the world and Shenzhen's booming economy has been a magnet for them.
Shenzhen's workforce is changing. As the percentage of Shenzhen's economy based on locally-designed and hi-tech goods has grown, so too the number of people with college education, or with a professional or technical expertise, has grown. Currently, there are 791,000 in this category, but watch this space since each year 20,000 new professionals graduate from China's prestigious universities. There are today 410,000 registered students receiving higher education in Shenzhen and adjacent regions.
Moreover, there are about 36,000 graduates from overseas universities and institutions currently employed in the city. They have brought with them a valuable diversity of ideas and talents. The mixing of these varied elements has produced a tolerant, diverse culture, which has helped Shenzhen become a platform for setting up businesses and seeking innovation.
Quality of Life
While the thriving economy is no doubt the primary reason that Shenzhen has been successful in attracting the right skills for its hi-tech and design industries, the city has a high quality of life to offer. Shenzhen gained first place in the "Life Quality Rankings in China" published by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2006, and its ascent to the top spot was not solely attributed to its top per capita income rankings.
Shenzhen also scores highly in areas you might not expect it to. The city is well endowed naturally with a long and beautiful coast, proximity to Hong Kong over the Shenzhen River and a warm climate with an annual average temperature of 22℃. Shenzhen government has started to focus on quality of life issues as it becomes more aware of their importance for the success of the local economy.
As its connections with the other urban centres of the Pearl River Delta – including Hong Kong and Macau – become ever stronger, Shenzhen's horizons are rising even further. If, as is predicted, we see the emergence of a massive metropolis linking the existing Pearl River Delta cities, Shenzhen will find itself at the geographical heart of the world's first 'megacity' with a population of more than 40 million people, and representing one of the largest and richest urban centers in the world.