Shenzhen

Shenzhen, city, south-central Guangdong sheng (province), southeastern China. It lies along the coast of the South China Sea and immediately north of Hong Kong.

In 1979 Shenzhen was a small border city of some 30,000 inhabitants that served as a customs stop into mainland China from Hong Kong. That year, it was declared a special economic zone—i.e., one of several cities along the coast of China that were opened to foreign investment, technology, and managerial expertise through the establishment of foreign-owned, joint-venture, and other business enterprises without the prior approval of the central government. The fledgling city also received sizable loans from Chinese banks, which were used to build new roads, housing, schools, and water, power, and communications facilities for its burgeoning population.

From 1980 the city grew at a phenomenal rate, as a tremendous amount of both domestic and foreign capital was invested there. Wages and standards of living in the special economic zone were significantly higher than the average in China, and vast numbers of workers and professionals flooded into it to work in factories that produced electronics, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, textiles, building materials, and processed foods. This phenomenal growth in the special economic zone likewise stimulated the surrounding agricultural area’s production of poultry, livestock, and vegetables.

The rapid growth rate in the region became known in China as “Shenzhen speed,” and the success of the project prompted the Chinese government to convert several other coastal cities into special economic zones and to encourage modernization in different fields. Shenzhen became an experimental zone for Chinese economic reform and liberalization. Such measures as the reestablishment of stock markets were initiated in Shenzhen and later adopted elsewhere in China in order to smooth the transition to the new policies.

Railways from Shenzhen stretch northwest to Guangzhou (Canton), north to Beijing, and east to Fujian province. Expressways also connect the city with Guangzhou as well as other coastal cities in the province. A major international airport and large seaport container terminals have been built on the city’s outskirts. Shenzhen has also founded its own universities and colleges, including Shenzhen University (1983). In addition, some major Chinese higher-education institutions, notably Peking University and Tsinghua (Qinghua) University, have established branch campuses in the city. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 1,120,394; (2007 est.) urban agglom., 7,581,000.