Beijing has released a plan to turn Shenzhen, the hi-tech hub neighbouring Hong Kong, into a “core engine” of reform that it hopes will power growth and innovation in the Greater Bay Area.
It comes just before President Xi Jinping is expected to deliver an “important address” during his visit to the city on Wednesday marking 40 years since it was set up as a special economic zone.
The plan charting development from 2020 to 2025 gives Shenzhen more autonomy in areas such as land use, technology and innovation, the big data economy and hiring foreign professionals. But it sheds little light on how the city will overcome obstacles such as an increasingly hostile international trade environment and US-led measures to counter China.
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Covering a wide range of areas – from financial market reforms to the development of a data market – the plan also calls for Shenzhen to play a leading role in the Greater Bay Area. The development zone aims to link the cities of Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and seven others in Guangdong province into an economic and business hub, and has been compared with San Francisco and Tokyo’s bay areas.
President Xi Jinping will visit Shenzhen on Wednesday to mark the 40th anniversary of the special economic zone. Photo: Xinhua
“Following Xi Jinping’s guidance on building socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era … [this document] grants Shenzhen greater autonomy to carry out reforms in new areas and critical sectors,” the plan says.
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“[It supports] Shenzhen to take the lead in reform and opening up from a higher vantage point, on a higher level, and with bigger goals.”
