Why tech-savvy Shenzhen has left Hong Kong at the starting gate

For Gu Ying and his two friends, Shenzhen was the only place to start their new tech venture. Hong Kong, where they attended university, just wasn't an option.

Following in the footsteps of Frank Wang Tao - who chose Shenzhen over Hong Kong for his start-up, DJI Technology, the world's leading consumer drone maker - 24-year-old Gu and Leo Fuji Zhang and Zhang Shinan, both 25, set up TT-Kuaiche, a mobile carwash app that swiftly expanded across the mainland.

Gu, a graduate of City University, Polytechnic University graduate Leo Zhang and Zhang Shinan from Baptist University, launched their app in June last year in Beijing and Shanghai, building a bridge between car owners and the cities' car washes.

"In the beginning when we decided to start up, we targeted our app at the mainland market, where there would be hundreds of millions of users," Gu said in a recent newspaper interview.

"We never thought of Hong Kong because its market is too small for such an app and the costs are too high for a start-up.

"And it's also hard to partner with young Hongkongers because most of them know little about mainland customers."

Their decision highlights the growing lead Shenzhen is taking over Hong Kong as a centre for technological innovation. The Nanfang Daily reported last week that more than 10 per cent of Shenzhen's 15 million people were launching companies.