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Phoebe Zhang

With four months to go until it hosts the Apec Economic Leaders’ Meeting, the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen is already tightening its security, banning travellers on the subway from carrying perfume and imposing a no-fly zone for drones.
In a notice on Sunday, the city government said subway passengers would be scanned and their carry-on items would be X-rayed to “completely ensure travel safety”.
In addition to items such as explosives that have long been banned on the system, passengers would not be allowed to travel with large bottles of perfume, open bottles of alcohol, cigarette lighters or pesticides, the government said.
No end date was announced for the added restrictions.
The rules on scanning and X-raying are not new but they were applied flexibly in the past, with passengers often just opening their bags to show staff the contents.
Passengers complained on social media that the stricter policies and enforcement had led to long queues, causing some people to be late for work.
Also last week, Shenzhen police said a no-fly zone would be imposed at the centre of the city’s downtown Futian district until November 23.
All “low-altitude aircraft” – including drones, model aircraft, helicopters, balloons, kites and sky lanterns – would be strictly banned during this period and violators would face criminal charges, the notice said.
The no-fly zone includes the new Shenzhen InterContinental hotel and conference centre, which is expected to be a venue for the Apec meetings. A lake next to the hotel is being turned into a park.
The ban comes just weeks after a small aircraft crashed into Beijing’s tallest building.


Shenzhen is the third Chinese city to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, following Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014.
Since President Xi Jinping made the announcement last year, Shenzhen authorities have been on a campaign to beautify the city.
Shenzhen Communist Party secretary Jin Lei, who was appointed in March, vowed to “resolutely fulfil this major political mission and fully serve the overall national diplomatic strategy”.
As well as building venues and upgrading parks, the city is taking the opportunity to tackle some long-running issues, including e-bikes and public smoking.
While electric scooters are a generally popular way to get around in China’s cities – there are an estimated 6 million in Shenzhen alone – they are also crucial to China’s vast takeaway economy.
Many cities are home to legions of delivery drivers on e-bikes, often ignoring traffic rules and putting pedestrians at risk as they race to meet takeaway platforms’ deadlines.


Since Jin took the reins, e-bikes have been banned from some parts of Shenzhen, including key sites where Apec-related events will be held.
The city’s smoking rules have also been expanded over the past few months, with the practice banned from all railway stations and border crossings between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.
A government notice last month said that security guards in some areas had received training on combating “uncivilised behaviour”, which included smoking in public places, unlicensed street vending and littering. The course was meant to ensure their enforcement was “in accordance with new Apec standards”, the notice said.
The government is also determined to seize this opportunity to seal deals. Just this month, the Port of Shenzhen signed agreements with 16 other ports around the world on routes, port construction and talent cultivation.
Futian district previously announced it would go “all in” on internationalisation, services upgrading and attracting global companies.


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China

Politics

The southern city has prohibited more items from the subway and outlawed drones from the downtown area


The southern city has prohibited more items from the subway and outlawed drones from the downtown area.


Shenzhen

Xi Jinping

Perfume ban, no-fly zone – as Apec summit looms, Shenzhen ramps up security

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The southern city has prohibited more items from the subway and outlawed drones from the downtown area

The southern city has prohibited more items from the subway and outlawed drones from the downtown area