Shenzhen boasts the most growth champions in SCMP-Statista’s survey of the 80 fastest-growing companies in Greater Bay Area
- Shenzhen, the technology hub in southern China, has 30 companies among the 80 fastest-growing corporate entities in the Greater Bay Area between 2015 and 2018
- The biggest sector for the most number of growth champions is in electronics and electrical components, according to the survey
Shenzhen, home to several Chinese technology giants, is also the birthplace of most of the fastest-growing companies in the Greater Bay Area, befitting the city’s reputation as China’s Silicon Valley.
The survey, the first of its kind, sheds light on where investors and entrepreneurs are placing their bets in an area that is projected to become one of biggest growth drivers of the Chinese economy. The GBA – a cluster comprising nine cities in Guangdong province with Hong Kong and Macau – has a population of 70 million people and a combined economic output estimated at US$1.5 trillion, which would place it ahead of Spain as the world’s 13th-biggest economy if it were a stand-alone entity, according to the International Monetary Fund’s data.
The survey, commissioned in May, was part of the programme by one of Asia’s oldest English-language newspapers to shed light on the future economic powerhouse in southern China.
Statista, a German online statistics portal, compiled a list of the fastest-growing companies in the GBA, ranked by revenue growth between the years 2015 and 2018 for companies with at least 1 million yuan (US$142,000) in 2015, and HK$10 million yuan for 2018.
The Chinese government unveiled a detailed blue print in February for creating a powerful economic and business hub to rival California’s Silicon Valley.
The unveiling of the blue print has already created a flurry of investments into the GBA, with Hong Kong’s banks stepping up their hiring processes to expand in the larger market. Real estate prices have risen in Zhuhai, Foshan and Zhongshan as investors – especially wily Hong Kong speculators – tried to get ahead of the market by securing footholds in the mainland Chinese cities in the area.