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Explainer | Surpassing Hong Kong and Singapore was easy. Shenzhen’s next economic miracle rests on Tencent, Huawei and its top companies
- Shenzhen’s success is underlined by the fact that its gross domestic product surpassed that of Hong Kong in 2018
- Xi promised more autonomy for Shenzhen to create another economic miracle; climate change projects will be big over the next five years, analyst says
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Shenzhen, the richest city in southern Guangdong province known as China’s Silicon Valley, surpassed Hong Kong and Singapore over the past two years in terms of gross domestic product.
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By 2025, the city is projected to become a 4 trillion yuan (US$611 billion) economy under its five-year development plan, outgrowing Portugal, Israel and Ireland, among others. The city expanded by 3.1 per cent to 2.77 trillion yuan.
The city’s transformation from a fishing village to the forefront of global technology innovation was hailed by President Xi Jinping in October on its 4oth year as the first of China’s four special economic zones, ahead of Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen. Shenzhen will be given more autonomy to create another miracle, he said.
Under its 2021-2025 plan, Shenzhen aims to become the country’s “core engine” of reform and to power growth and innovation in the Greater Bay Area, a region comprising nine Guangdong cities, Macau and Hong Kong. Much of that drive will come from some of the world’s best known companies including Tencent Holdings and Huawei Technologies.
“The outlook for Shenzhen is still promising and it will continue to be a leading city in China,” said Liu Guohong, the director of Shenzhen-based China Development Institute’s Finance & Modern Industry Department. Part of its success is down to contributions by leading players in different sectors, Liu said.
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Xi Jinping vows to promote Shenzhen as global trade hub during 40th anniversary visit
Xi Jinping vows to promote Shenzhen as global trade hub during 40th anniversary visit
“If you look at leading companies in major industries across the country, many of them are based in Shenzhen,” said Liu. “You can name China Vanke and Poly Group as leaders in the property sector. Tencent is a leader in information technology and Ping An leads the insurance industry. In manufacturing, the leaders are Huawei and BYD.”
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