Shenzhen is located in the southern portion of the Guangdong Province, on the eastern shore of the Pearl River Delta. Neighboring the Pearl River Delta and Hong Kong, Shenzhen's location gives it a geographical advantage for economic development. In 1980, the first Special Economic Zone of China was built in this city. From then on, the city become a highlight of China, one known for its rapid economic growth.
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| ShenZhen |
Shenzhen comprises eight administrative districts which include:
Futian
Futian was considered as being a part of the Shenzhen Economic Zone after it was designated in 1980. It was promoted to district status in October, 1990. The Shangbu district (which had previously governed the Futian subdistrict) then became a part of Futian district. The district government was established on Shennan Middle Road.
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| ShenZhen Futian CBD |
The Central Business District (CBD) is located within the Futian district. CBD is a planned development project and commenced in the early 1990s. it comprises an area of 607 hectares. The district is bounded by Binhe Dadao, Lianhua Road, Xinzhou Road and Caitian Road.
The CBD houses many office high-rises as well as government buildings. Some of these buildings are prominent buildings in Shenzhen, like the Shenzhen City Hall (Civic Centre), Shenzhen Library and Concert Hall, Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center as well as the Shenzhen Development Bank building.
Luohu District
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| ShenZhen Luohu |
Luohu district was established as the first district of Shenzhen after Shenzhen was given the city status in October, 1979. To aid the infrastructure during the construction phases, many hills were flattened.
The district also contains some of the tallest and most recognizable buildings in Shenzhen. These buildings include KK100 and the Guoma Building.
Nanshan District
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| ShenZhen Nanshan |
Some notable firms such as Tencent, ZTE, Vapestrm and China Resources Beverage (CR Beverage) amongst others have their headquarters in Hi-Tech Park, Nanshan. The South China office of CR Beverage is located on the 10th floor of the Min Tai Building on Nanhai Road, Nanshan District.
Baoan District
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| ShenZhen Baoan |
Baoan district is majorly a secondary sector economy. It is an industrial center that’s famous for having lots of electronic factories, most especially in Xixiang sub-district. The district also has a meaningful number of service industries. However, agriculture that was once dominating the economy has reduced in recent years. High-rises can also be found all over Baoan.
Longgang District
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| ShenZhen Longgang |
Longgang was established as a district on the 1st of January, 1993. It can be found in northeastern Shenzhen. It has an area of 682.87 square kilometres (263.66 sq mi), thus making it the largest district by area in Guangdong province.
Longhua District
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| ShenZhen Longhua |
Longhua was created as a new district on 30th December, 2011. It became a district on the 11th of October, 2016. Longhua New District is one of the major production hubs in Shenzhen. It houses manufacturing industries, trading industries as well as information technology. It forms an outward economic structure that is typical in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.
Pingshan District
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| ShenZhen Pingshan |
It was established as a New District on 30th June, 2009 by the Shenzhen municipal government. The new district superseded the old plan that was developed in 1994 and began construction in 1997. Pingshan was still part of Longgan district in terms of administrative management. Pingshan was officially separated from Longgan to stand on its own as a district on October 11, 2016.
In 1979 Shenzhen was a small border city of some 30,000 inhabitants that served as a customs stop into mainland China from Hong Kong. That year, it was declared a special economic zone—i.e., one of several cities along the coast of China that were opened to foreign investment, technology, and managerial expertise through the establishment of foreign-owned, joint-venture, and other business enterprises without the prior approval of the central government. The fledgling city also received sizable loans from Chinese banks, which were used to build new roads, housing, schools, and water, power, and communications facilities for its burgeoning population.
From 1980 the city grew at a phenomenal rate, as a tremendous amount of both domestic and foreign capital was invested there. Wages and standards of living in the special economic zone were significantly higher than the average in China, and vast numbers of workers and professionals flooded into it to work in factories that produced electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, building materials, and processed foods. This phenomenal growth in the special economic zone likewise stimulated the surrounding agricultural area’s production of poultry, livestock, and vegetables.
The rapid growth rate in the region became known in China as “Shenzhen speed,” and the success of the project prompted the Chinese government to convert several other coastal cities into special economic zones and to encourage modernization in different fields. Shenzhen became an experimental zone for Chinese economic reform and liberalization. Such measures as the reestablishment of stock markets were initiated in Shenzhen and later adopted elsewhere in China in order to smooth the transition to the new policies.
The economic environment of Shenzhen consists of four pillar industries: high-tech, modern logistics, financial services and the cultural industry. It is noteworthy that Shenzhen is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SSE). The SSE is a mutualized national stock exchange under the China Securities Regulatory Commission that provides a venue for securities trading to a broad spectrum of market participants, including over 1,500 listed companies as of 2014.
Due to its close proximity Hong Kong, Shenzhen has strong economic ties with the specially administered region. Hong Kong is its main export destination. In 2012, export to Hong Kong was US$146.37 billion, accounting for 53.94% of Shenzhen's total export volume. Shenzhen has also managed to attract substantial amounts of foreign direct investments---the utilized FDI in 2013 reached US$5.23billion, of which 34.4 percent went into the manufacturing sector.
Under State direction, Shenzhen aims to focus on innovation as its dominant strategy for future development. The number of Shenzhen’s Patent Cooperation Treaty application ranked first in China over eight consecutive years.
