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Shenzhen takes on new role as basic research centre after earning reputation for rapid product development

  • Often called China’s Silicon Valley, the city has been named as the location of the country’s fourth major national science centre
  • Shenzhen ranks well behind Beijing and Shanghai when it comes to government support in basic science

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China plans to let Shenzhen City, which borders Hong Kong, play a key role in science and technology innovation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. Photo: Bloomberg

Shenzhen, home to Chinese tech giants Tencent, Huawei and DJI, is known for warp speed when it comes to new product development – whether that be in mobile games, 5G wireless technology, or consumer electronics.

Now the Chinese government wants the southern metropolis, designated the country’s first special economic zone 40 years ago when it was a sleepy fishing village, to focus on the longer term by giving it an added role: fundamental research and development.

Often called China’s Silicon Valley, the city of 12 million has been named as the location of the country’s fourth major national science centre amid the Chinese government’s ambitions to become a global technology and innovation powerhouse.

“China is very good at the hardware, but basic research is not a simple task,” said Jonathan Chee, project director at the Centre for Entrepreneurship of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. “The most cutting-edge research and technology are in the universities and it’s not easy to bring the talent together to form a cluster … I’m worried that the efforts would be too costly.”

Employees work on the production line of a robot vacuum cleaner factory of Matsutek in Shenzhen. Photo: Reuters
Employees work on the production line of a robot vacuum cleaner factory of Matsutek in Shenzhen. Photo: Reuters

The science centres, managed by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission, include technology parks and government-funded laboratories tasked with undertaking basic research in fields such as nuclear reactions, quantum physics and astrophysics. The three existing science centres are in Beijing to the north, Shanghai on the east coast, and Hefei in central China.

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