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Shenzhen
TechPolicy

Chinese hi-tech hub Shenzhen gears up for steady economic expansion over next five years, cementing its role as the Greater Bay Area’s ‘core engine’

  • Under its new five-year plan, Shenzhen will sharpen its focus in the fields of semiconductors, biomedicine, new energy vehicles and the digital economy
  • The 130-page economic blueprint forecasts the local economy to reach US$626 billion by 2025

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Aerial photo shows the Futian District of Shenzhen, the richest city in southern Guangdong province. Photo: Xinhua
Iris Deng
Shenzhen, China’s Silicon Valley and the richest city in southern Guangdong province, expects to achieve steady economic expansion through 2025 under a new five-year plan, helping cement the metropolis’ role as the “core engine” of the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
The city’s 14th five-year plan from 2021 to 2025, released by the Shenzhen government this week, expects the local economy to reach 4 trillion yuan (US$626 billion) by the end of that period, up from 2.8 trillion yuan in 2020.

Under that plan, Shenzhen’s per capita gross domestic product is forecast to hit 215,000 yuan in 2025, or US$33,629, to narrow the city’s wealth gap with neighbouring Hong Kong, which had a per capita GDP of US$45,176 last year.

The 130-page economic blueprint said Shenzhen will play a key role to help China’s “technology self-sufficiency” strategy and become the country’s “vanguard in innovation-driven development”. The city, according to the plan, will sharpen its focus in the fields of semiconductors, biomedicine, new energy vehicles and the digital economy.

In a broader context, the southern city will have a bigger role to play, as the hi-tech rivalry between the US and China intensifies, according to Guo Wanda, executive vice-president of Shenzhen-based think tank China Development Institute.

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“What differentiates Shenzhen from other tech hubs in China is its vigorous ecosystem of tech companies, which the city expects to play a major role in driving innovation,” Guo said. “Unlike the traditional basic scientific research led by the government and universities, Shenzhen’s research and development initiatives target the requirements of industries and the general market.”

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