China unveils plan to turn Shenzhen into ‘core engine’ of reform
- Blueprint released ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to the hi-tech powerhouse on Wednesday
- It gives the city more autonomy in areas like land use, technology and innovation, and the big data economy
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.
“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.
“[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.”
It continues: “[Shenzhen] will promote cooperation with Hong Kong on a higher level and strengthen its role as the core engine in the development of the Greater Bay Area, and do a good job in setting an example of building a model city that can represent a modernised and vibrant socialist country.”
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Guo Wanda, executive vice-president of the China Development Institute, a think tank in Shenzhen, said the reforms would be trialled in the city.
“The document says that Shenzhen has been a flag bearer for the opening up of the country,” he said. “Shenzhen is in an advantageous position in carrying out further reforms because it has a good foundation, and many of the problems Shenzhen faces are also relevant in other parts of China.”
But he noted that it was a very different city compared to four decades ago, at the start of the reform and opening up.
“Several of the reforms [in the document] cover some of Shenzhen’s current challenges such as the lack of land and inadequate public services,” Guo said.
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He said the emphasis on big data development would be good for Shenzhen, allowing it to experiment with new measures that had not been seen in other parts of China.
Zhang also noted that the blueprint offered no immediate relief for two of the city’s biggest challenges – high property prices and a land shortage.
But he doubted whether Shenzhen would really take a leadership position in the Greater Bay Area, saying all the cities should take different roles.
“The role of each city in the Greater Bay Area actually depends on whether they can adapt to changes in the domestic and international situations and enhance their competitiveness – this is not something this document can answer,” Zhang said.
He added that Hong Kong’s key challenges would be whether it could retain its status as an international financial centre and if it could reinvent itself as a new technology and innovation hub in the coming decade after the US revoked its preferential trading status.