Spend some time in Shenzhen and you’ll find a modern, bustling and technologically advanced city, on par with any cosmopolitan city across the globe.

As a pioneer of China’s reform and opening up, Shenzhen has become an international metropolis and a popular destination for tourists and businesspeople alike.

The city’s transformation from a fishing village with its humbling beginnings over 40 years ago to a modern metropolis is a remarkable story of endeavor, innovation and commitment to progress.

While attracting more and more attention from the world, Shenzhen is also constantly demonstrating its increasing international competitiveness and appeal, with continued efforts made in enhancing its international sophistication.

Sound investment environment

Shenzhen has kept improving the investment environment for foreign investors over the past decades.

Earlier this month, the city made its latest move and issued a three-year plan for 2023-2025 to further stimulate market vitality and accelerate fostering an internationalized and globally competitive business environment.

Concrete measures have been laid out to build an open industrial innovation ecosystem, an international service system for global resources allocation, an investment and trade service mechanism aligning with high standards, and a livable and high-quality business-friendly environment.

Since the beginning of this year, Shenzhen has actively reached out to attract investment worldwide. Foreign investments have flowed in, with some strategic investments made by firms such as Intel, Siemens Heathineers, Sanofi and Valeo.

Silicon Valley of China

Technological innovation has already been Shenzhen’s shining calling card, which is known as the “Silicon Valley of China.”

In Shenzhen, there are many representative innovation-oriented enterprises that have helped the city grow into a world-renowned innovation hub. The city is home to technology giants including Huawei, Tencent, BYD, DJI and Mindray, as well as 11 Fortune Global 500 enterprises.

Generally speaking, the number of applications through the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) and the number of State-level high-tech enterprises are important indicators for measuring the scientific and technological innovation strength of a city or region.

Shenzhen delivered stellar performances in both indicators. The city has currently over 23,000 State-level high-tech enterprises and filed 5,751 PCT applications in the first five months of the year, ranking first among large and medium-sized cities in China, official data showed.

Shenzhen enterprises are also constantly strengthening their influence and competitiveness in the global innovation landscape.

BYD, the world’s leading manufacturer of new energy vehicles and power batteries, has further cemented its position with the production of its 5 millionth battery-powered vehicle, the company announced Aug. 9. This marked the car manufacturer being the first in the word to reach this great milestone.

Li Xiting, chairman of Mindray, said in a recent interview with Shenzhen Special Zone Daily that the company has achieved a transformation from a follower to a challenger in the global medical device industry. Its future development goal is to enter the global top 20 in five to 10 years and the global top 10 in a longer period of time.

The city has been endeavoring to build a first-class innovation ecosystem, attract the world’s top talents and cultivate high-end talents.

It has successively established 13 Nobel Prize (Turing Prize) scientist laboratories, each with a maximum financial support of 100 million yuan (US$13.7 million).

In 2019, the city introduced Efim Zelmanov, recipient of the Fields Medal, to establish the Shenzhen International Center for Mathematics.

The Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has also attracted over 40 full-time foreign scientists.

Ecological, cultural environment

People visiting Shenzhen in recent years often say: “The urban scene is getting more and more beautiful.” As more skyscrapers rise up, public green spaces also increase.

As of the end of 2022, Shenzhen had built 1,260 parks of various types, with a per capita park green area of 12.58 square meters.

The total mileage of the city’s greenway network had reached 3,119 kilometers, with a greenway density of 1.56 kilometers per square kilometer of land.

In 2022, Shenzhen was awarded the title of “Biodiversity Charming City” by ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, a global network of more than 2,500 local and regional governments committed to sustainable development. The city has also been approved to join in CitiesWithNature, a global partnership initiative that strengthens collective action and impact to protect biodiversity and reconnect urban communities with nature.

Shenzhen is also rich in wetland resources. China will establish an international mangrove center in the city, the first of its kind in the world for mangrove preservation and cooperation.

In terms of culture, this year marks Shenzhen’s 15th anniversary as a UNESCO City of Design. Shenzhen Fashion Week, one of the three major fashion weeks in China, has served as a platform for communication between China and foreign countries in the realm of vogue.

Earlier this year, a total of 20 blocks in nine districts and Dapeng New Area were selected into Shenzhen’s first batch of international blocks. Each block, based on its unique features, has worked to optimize public space design, set up international volunteer service teams, improve the international language environment and promote cross-cultural exchanges.

According to a government plan, Shenzhen will form an international block network by 2025. By 2030, international blocks will be the key components for Shenzhen to build an international city.

Shenzhen has also launched an official multilingual information portal to provide residents, investors and tourists with all-rounded and up-to-date information about the city.

After a three-month trial operation, the EyeShenzhen multilingual website, which features nine foreign languages, is scheduled to be officially launched Saturday in celebration of the establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone.