Editor’s note: As we reflect on 2024, Shenzhen remains committed to advancing high-level opening up, actively integrating into the new development pattern, and attracting foreign investment. We’re introducing this special series, “2024 in Review,” to highlight the city’s progress across various sectors. This marks the seventh installment in our series of reports.
THE Authority of the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen (Qianhai Authority) recently unveiled 10 major developments that demonstrated its deepening reform and opening up in 2024, highlighting the area’s robust momentum over the past year. GDP growth, innovation index Among the 10 developments are Qianhai’s rapidly growing GDP and its leading position on the institutional innovation index. Official statistics indicate that in the first three quarters of 2024, Qianhai achieved a regional GDP of 186.4 billion yuan (US$25.42 billion), a year-on-year increase of 8.2%. In the first 11 months of 2024, Qianhai’s total import and export volume reached 641.72 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 46.7%. This includes a total cross-border e-commerce import and export volume of 109.74 billion yuan, an increase of 165.4%. Over the past three years since Qianhai’s geographic expansion, regional GDP has grown by more than 10% annually, with the number of local enterprises increasing from 55,000 to 90,000, demonstrating strong market vitality. According to a report on the innovation index of China’s free trade zone (FTZ) areas released by the Free Trade Zone Research Institute at Sun Yat-sen University on July 16, Qianhai ranked first for institutional innovation among China’s 57 FTZs for the third consecutive year. Over the past year, Qianhai introduced 14 new innovative measures, including the “integrated innovation of international ship registration and classification management.” All 14 measures were replicated and promoted nationwide, bringing the total number of implemented measures to 102. The vibrant economic environment and innovative atmosphere in Qianhai have nurtured the growth of numerous standout companies. In October, a collaboration between Qianhai-based Seventh Impression Entertainment (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd. and the Qianhai Authority generated significant interest in cultural tourism. A 20-meter-tall inflatable model of Seventh Impression’s popular original anime character Nailoong was displayed in the Qianhai Performing Arts Park, quickly became a viral sensation on social media. The installation attracted countless tourists, enriching Qianhai’s cultural identity and artistic ambiance while significantly boosting the brand awareness and influence of the Nailoong intellectual property. Xie Ying, co-founder and deputy general manager of Seventh Impression, commented, “Qianhai’s beneficial policies and rapid development have provided cultural and creative enterprises like ours with a fair, transparent, and efficient environment in terms of content creation, copyright protection, market access, and more. Qianhai’s international business environment also offers us more opportunities for international cooperation.” Last year, Seventh Impression’s latest Nailoong cartoon series not only achieved high audience ratings on domestic platforms but was also successfully launched in a number of countries and regions worldwide. The company’s partnership with retail brand MINISO helped Nailoong enter 57 international markets, garnering over 100 million views globally. The ‘1510’ model Another significant milestone was the launch of a new “1510” development model for the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub (E-hub) on Aug. 26. The “1” represents the E-hub's main mission of promoting Shenzhen-Hong Kong cooperation and providing qualified Hong Kong entrepreneurial teams with office space for just 1 yuan per square meter per month. The “5” refers to the establishment of a 500 million yuan fund and the gathering of innovation resources from five Hong Kong universities to support startups and entrepreneurs. The “10” signifies the integration of 10 key innovation elements and the provision of 100,000 square meters of industrial space to establish a vibrant innovation ecosystem. Encouraged by the new favorable policy, the HAI+ Science Research Institute launched a new project at the E-hub last November, focusing on industry-university-research collaboration in artificial intelligence (AI) and the commercialization of AI-related applications. To date, the institute has established partnerships with 14 colleges and universities from home and abroad. Chen Mo, president of the HAI+ Science Research Institute, said, “For startups, the main expenses are office rent and employee salaries. The introduction of the ‘1510’ model allows us to save 7,000 to 8,000 yuan in monthly rent. The new policy also helps cover a substantial portion of the salaries we pay to the Hong Kong talent we hire.” Chen also mentioned that several venture capital professionals and entrepreneurs from Hong Kong he knows have visited the E-hub to learn about the favorable policies and environment, with some successfully establishing projects there. As of November 2024, a total of 1,373 entrepreneurial teams had been incubated at the E-hub, including 955 teams from China's Hong Kong, Macao, and abroad, as well as 50 national high-tech enterprises and 12 high-caliber talent teams. Together, they had secured over 4 billion yuan in financing. Numerous ‘firsts’ in AI In the past year, Qianhai achieved many national firsts in the field of AI, including a collaboration with Huawei to establish the country’s first global intelligent industry innovation center and the launch of China’s first large model and algorithm innovation service center. In January 2024, Qianhai released its first document of the year focusing on supporting the high-quality development and advanced applications of AI. To date, Qianhai has attracted 249 AI-related companies above the State-designated scale, 77 of which have revenue exceeding 100 million yuan. “This data reflect that Qianhai, as ‘a special zone within a special zone,’ has distinct advantages over other regions in the field of AI. For us, this means more potential partners for collaboration, and the competition will motivate us to continue progressing. We are truly fortunate to begin our entrepreneurial journey in such a fertile environment where the AI industry is booming,” Chen explained. (Chang Zhipeng) | 