Mayor Li Zibin has pledged to step up measures to fight crime and official malpractice.
Noting that the public was most concerned about the two issues, Mr Li admitted the authorities had not done enough to tackle the problems.
The mayor yesterday promised the annual Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress at its opening session that the Government would tackle the matters.
And a list of measures, which included tighter control over the migrant population, an increase of police manpower on patrols, and rotation and dismissal systems for officials, was presented to the People's Congress.
'We are determined to make greater efforts to crack down on crime. We may not be able to resolve the problem in the space of a year, but we do hope that the situation will gradually improve,' Mr Li told the legislature.
He blamed the migrant population for being a leading source of crime.