5 takeaways from Xi Jinping’s speech during 40th anniversary visit to Shenzhen

Chinese president full of praise for people of southern tech hub on visit to mark 40th anniversary of it becoming China’s first special economic zone

‘This is a global development miracle that the Chinese people have created together,’ he says

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Chinese President Xi Jinping was full of praise for the people of Shenzhen. Photo: Xinhua

Published: 4:00pm, 14 Oct 2020Updated: 3:59am, 15 Oct 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a 50-minute speech in Shenzhen on Wednesday to mark the 40th anniversary of the city becoming China’s first ever special economic zone (SEZ).

Delivered to more than 800 people in Qianhai, a pilot free-trade zone in the city, here are the key points of his address:

Shenzhen a ‘global development miracle’, blueprint for future SEZs

Xi praised the citizens of the south China city and the Communist Party officials responsible for running it for their hard work over the past 40 years.

What they had achieved in that time would have taken other countries a century, he said.

Located in Guangdong province in China’s deep south, Shenzhen is known around the world as a centre for hi-tech innovation. As China’s first SEZ it had been at the forefront of the government’s efforts to reform its economy and open it up to the rest of the world, Xi said.

Shenzhen’s economy had grown from 270 million yuan (US$40 million) in 1980 to 2.7 trillion yuan in 2019, the fifth-largest of any city in Asia, he said.

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