Shenzhen is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong, China. A special economic zone, it is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of Guangdong, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Dongguan to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, and Macau to the southwest. With a population of 17.5 million in 2020, Shenzhen is the third-most-populous city by urban population in China after Shanghai and Beijing. The Port of Shenzhen is the world's fourth-busiest container port. Shenzhen has established itself as a premier global metropolis with GDP that surpassed Hong Kong and Singapore in recent years. Shenzhen was developed from a largely rural village area into a city in 1979. In the early 1980s, the reform and opening up introduced by Deng Xiaoping resulted in the city becoming the first special economic zone of China due to its close proximity to Hong Kong, attracting foreign direct investment and migrants searching for opportunities. In thirty years, the city's economy and population boomed and has since emerged as a hub for technology, international trade, and finance. As of 2026, Shenzhen has solidified its status as a premier global trading hub, though recent rankings continue to place it alongside other heavyweights like Singapore to rank as the No. 1 mainland Chinese city for foreign trade. Shenzhen is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, one of the largest stock exchanges in the world by market capitalization, and the Guangdong Free-Trade Zone. Shenzhen is ranked as an Alpha- (global first-tier) city by the GaWC. Its nominal GDP has surpassed those of the neighboring cities of Guangzhou and Hong Kong and it is now a city with one of the ten largest economies in the world. Shenzhen also has the second-largest number of skyscrapers, fifth-highest number of billionaires, and the seventh-most Fortune Global 500 headquarters of any city in the world. It is also the eighth-most competitive and largest financial center in the world, and the world's 18th largest city by scientific research output, and has several higher education institutions, including Shenzhen University and SUSTech. Shenzhen railway station was the last stop on the mainland Chinese section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway. The city is a global technology hub. In the media Shenzhen is sometimes called China's Silicon Valley. The city's entrepreneurial, innovative, and competitive-based culture has resulted in the city being home to numerous small manufacturers and software companies. Several of these firms have become large technology corporations, such as Huawei, Tencent, DJI, and Oppo. As an important international city, Shenzhen hosts numerous national and international events every year, such as the 2011 Summer Universiade and the China Hi-Tech Fair. Shenzhen is home to the main operations of BYD Company, and is the largest automobile manufacturing city in China. A large portion of Shenzhen's population are migrants from all over China, and the city's population structure skews younger than most cities in China.
Toponymy The earliest known recorded mention of the name chen could date from 1410, during the Ming dynasty. Locals call the drains in paddy fields "Zhen" (Chinese: 圳; lit. 'ditch', 'drain'). Shenzhen was named after a deep (Chinese: 深; lit. 'deep') drain that was located within the area." The name "Shenzhen" was picked in 1978 by Xi Zhongxun, the father of Chinese leader Xi Jinping, who was the Party Secretary of Guangdong at the time.
History
Prehistory to early republic era
The oldest evidence of humans in the area on which Shenzhen was established dates back during the mid-Neolithic period. Humans have inhabited the area throughout the past 6,700 years. Historic counties were first established in the area 1,700 years ago. The historic towns of Nantou and Dapeng, were built on the area that is now Shenzhen over 600 years ago. In 214 BC, when Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified China under the Qin dynasty, the area was submitted to the jurisdiction of the established Nanhai Commandery, one of the three commanderies that were set up in Lingnan, and was assimilated into Zhongyuan culture. In 331 AD, the Eastern Jin administration split up Nanhai and established a new Dongguan Commandery (东官郡). The seat of both the commandery and Bao'an County, one of its six counties, was located around the modern town of Nantou. In 590, the Sui administration merged the region back into Nanhai. In 757, the Tang administration renamed the county Dongguan, and moved its seat to what is now Dongguan city, although a military garrison remained. During the 12th century, Nantou and the surrounding area became an important trade hub for salt and spices in the South China Sea. The area then became known for producing pearls during the 13th century. In the 1362 era, Chinese sailors of a fleet would go to a Mazu temple in Chiwan (in present-day Nanshan District) to pray as they go to . The Battle of Tunmen, when the Ming empire won a naval battle against invading Portuguese, was fought south of Nantou at Shenzhen. To prevent pirates from attacking Shenzhen, residents were resettled northward. As a result, Bao'an County lost two-thirds of its territory to the neighboring Dongguan and was incorporated into Dongguan in 1669. After the Qing was defeated by the United Kingdom in the First and Second Opium Wars, Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula were ceded to Britain. On 21 April 1898, the Qing regime signed a "Special Article for the Exhibition of Hong Kong's Borders" with the British empire, and leased the New Territories from Xin'an to the United Kingdom for 99 years. Xin'an was occupied by British forces under Henry Arthur Blake, the governor of Hong Kong, for roughly six months in 1899. From the 3,076 square kilometres (1,188 mi2) of territory that Xin'an held before the treaties, 1,055.61 square kilometres (407.57 mi2) of the county was ceded to Britain.
In response to the Wuchang Uprising in 1911, Xin'an residents rebelled against the local Qing administration and successfully overthrew them. In the same year the Chinese section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR) was opened to the public. The last stop on the Chinese side was Shenzhen railway station, helping the town's economy and opened Shenzhen up to the world. In 1913, the Republic of China administration renamed Xin'an County back to Bao'an County to prevent confusion from another county of the same name in Henan. During the Canton–Hong Kong strike in 1925, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions set up a reception station for strike workers in Hong Kong in Shenzhen. Strike workers were also given pickets and armored vehicles by the strike committee to create a blockade around Hong Kong. In 1931 Chen Jitang and his family established several casinos in Shenzhen, the largest of which being Shumchun Casino. During World War II, the Japanese occupied Shenzhen and Nantou, forcing the Bao'an County government to relocate to the neighboring Dongguan County. In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army tried to cross into Hong Kong through the Lo Wu Bridge in Shenzhen, though the bridge was blown up by British forces, which prevented the Japanese from entering Hong Kong that way.
1950s to 1980 In 1953, four years after the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Bao'an County government decided to move to Shenzhen, since the town was closer to the KCR and had a larger economy than Nantou. From the 1950s to the end of the 1970s, Shenzhen and the rest of Bao'an County oversaw a huge influx of refugees trying to escape to Hong Kong from the upheavals that were occurring in mainland China, and a range from 100,000 to 560,000 refugees resided in the county. In January 1978, a Central Inspection Team sent by the State Council investigated and established the issue of creating a foreign trade port in Bao'an County. In May, the investigation team wrote the "Hong Kong and Macao Economic Investigation Report" and proposed to turn Bao'an County and Zhuhai into commodity export bases. In August 1978, the Huiyang District Committee reported to the Provincial Committee on the "Report on the Request for the Change of Bao'an County to Shenzhen". On 18 October, the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee decided to change Bao'an County into Bao'an City and to turn it into a medium-level prefecture-level city with a foreign trade base. The Huiyang District Committee and the Bao'an County Committee, however, defended the change to rename Bao'an County to Shenzhen, claiming that people in the world know more about Shenzhen and its port than they know about Bao'an County. On 23 January 1979, the Guangdong provincial administration and the district of Huiyang announced their proposal to rename Bao'an County to Shenzhen and was approved and put into effect by the State Council on 5 March of that year. Also, the city would establish six districts: Luohu, Nantou, Songgang, Longhua, Longgang and Kuiyong. On 31 January 1979, the Central Committee of the Communist Party approved a plan to establish the Shekou Industrial Zone in Shenzhen with the purpose "to lead domestic, overseas, and diversified operations, industrial and commercial integration, and trading" based on the systems of that of Hong Kong and Macau. The Shekou Industrial Zone project was led by Hong Kong-based China Merchants Group under Yuan Geng's leadership and was to become the first export processing industrial zone in mainland China. At the beginning of April 1979, the Standing Committee of Guangdong Province discussed and proposed to the Central Committee to set up a "trade cooperation zone" in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou. In the same month, the Central Working Conference decided on the "Regulations on Vigorously Developing Foreign Trade to Increase Foreign Exchange Income" and agreed to pilot the first special economic zones (SEZ) in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, and Xiamen. In November, Shenzhen was elevated to the status of prefecture-level city at the regional level by the Guangdong provincial administration. Hundreds of small villages nearby, such as Yumin Cun, were incorporated into Shenzhen.
Special Economic Zone (1980s–present)
In 1980, Shenzhen had a population of 30,000. In May 1980 the Central Committee designated Shenzhen as the first SEZ in China, which was promoted by then-paramount leader Deng Xiaoping as part of China's reform and opening up. Its objective is to be an experimental ground for the practice of market capitalism within a community guided by the ideals of socialism with Chinese characteristics. On 26 August, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) approved the "Regulations of the Guangdong Special Economic Zone." In March 1981 Shenzhen was promoted to a sub-provincial division. There were plans for Shenzhen to develop its currency, but the plans were shelved due to the risk and the disagreement that a country should not be operating with two currencies. To enforce law and order in the city, the Shenzhen government erected barbed wire and checkpoints between the land borders of the main sections of the SEZ and the SEZ outskirts, as well as the rest of China, in 1983, which was known as the second line border. Much of Shenzhen's urban development in the 1980s focused in the area around the old border crossing and the market town. Its urbanization was typical for the 1980s.
In December 1990, under the authority of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange was established to provide a platform for centralized securities trading. In February 1992, the Standing Committee of the NPC granted the government of Shenzhen the power to make local laws and regulations. In 1996 and early 1997, the Shenzhen Guesthouse Hotel in Shenzhen was home to the Provisional Legislative Council and Provisional Executive Council of Hong Kong in preparation for the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. By 2001, as a result of Shenzhen's increasing economic prospects, increasing numbers of migrants from mainland China chose to go to Shenzhen and stay there instead of trying to illegally cross into Hong Kong. There were 9,000 captured border-crossers in 2000, while the same figure was 16,000 in 1991. Around the same time, Shenzhen hosted the second Senior Officials' Meeting of APEC China 2001 on 26 May 2001 in its southern manufacturing center and port. In May 2008, the State Council approved the Shenzhen SEZ to promote Shenzhen's administrative management system, economic system, social field, independent innovation system and mechanism, system and mechanism for opening up and regional cooperation, and resource conservation and environmental friendliness. On 1 July 2010 the State Council dissolved the "second line", and expanded the Shenzhen SEZ to include all districts, a five-fold increase over its pre-expansion size. On 26 August 2010, on the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the Shenzhen SEZ, the State Council approved the "Overall Development Plan for Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone." In August 2011, the city hosted the 26th Universiade, an international multi-sport event organized for university athletes. In April 2015, the Shekou Industrial Zone and the Qianhai Zone were integrated within the newly established Guangdong Free-Trade Zone. On 18 August 2019 the central government in Beijing unveiled reform plans covering economic, social, and political sectors of Shenzhen, labeling Shenzhen a pilot demonstration zone for socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Geography
Shenzhen roughly follows the administrative boundaries of the historical Bao'an County. The southern portion of Bao'an County became part of British Hong Kong after the Opium Wars, while the village of Shenzhen was on the border. Shenzhen railway station was the last stop on the mainland Chinese section of the Kowloon–Canton Railway, and Shenzhen's economy grew and it became a city by 1979. Shenzhen is located within the Pearl River Delta, bordering Hong Kong to the south, Huizhou to the north and northeast, Dongguan to the north and northwest, Lingdingyang and Pearl River to the west, and Mirs Bay to the east, and roughly 100 kilometres (62 mi) southeast of the provincial capital, Guangzhou. As of the end of 2017, the resident population of Shenzhen was 12,528,300, of which the registered population was 4,472,200, the actual administrative population was over 20 million. It makes up part of the Pearl River Delta built-up area with 44,738,513 inhabitants, spread over 9 municipalities (including Macau). The city is elongated measuring 81.4 kilometers from east to west while the shortest section from north to south is 10.8 kilometers. Over 160 rivers or channels flow through Shenzhen. There are 24 reservoirs within the city limits with a total capacity of 525 million tonnes. Notable rivers in Shenzhen include the Shenzhen River, Maozhou River and Longgang River.
Climate
Although Shenzhen is situated about a degree south of the Tropic of Cancer, due to the Siberian anticyclone it has a warm, monsoon-influenced, humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa). Winters are mild and relatively dry, due in part to the influence of the South China Sea, and frost is very rare; it begins dry but becomes progressively more humid and overcast. However, fog is most frequent in winter and spring, with 106 days per year reporting some fog. Early spring is the cloudiest time of year, and rainfall begins to dramatically increase in April; the rainy season lasts until late September to early October. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 27 percent in March to 53 percent in October, the city receives 1,853 hours of bright sunshine annually. The monsoon reaches its peak intensity in the summer months, when the city also experiences very humid and hot conditions. Despite this, extreme heat is rare, there are only 2.4 days of 35 °C (95 °F)+ temperatures. The region is prone to torrential rain as well, with 9.7 days that have 50 millimetres (2.0 inches) or more of rain, and 2.2 days of at least 100 mm (3.94 in). The latter portion of autumn is dry. The annual precipitation averages at around 1,933 mm (76 in), some of which is delivered in typhoons that strike from the east during summer and early autumn. Extreme temperatures have ranged from 0.2 °C (32 °F) on 11 February 1957 to 38.7 °C (102 °F) on 10 July 1980.
Politics
Structure
Like all governing institutions in mainland China, Shenzhen has a parallel party-government system, in which the secretary of the CCP Shenzhen Municipal Committee outranks the Mayor. The CCP committee acts as the top policy-formulation body, and is typically composed of 12 members (including the secretary). Despite being a sub-provincial city, Shenzhen as a SEZ still wields a lot of autonomy from the central government. In addition to being promoted to a sub-provincial city, the National People's Congress (NPC) in 1981 granted legislative powers to Shenzhen and other Special Economic Zones, giving the city the privilege to make its own laws and regulations. The Standing Committee of the NPC also granted Shenzhen voted and passed the "Decision on Authorizing the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress and its Standing Committee and the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to respectively formulate laws and regulations for implementation in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone" in order to give fully strengthen Shenzhen's legislative powers without interference from the central government.
Corruption There were several cases of high-ranking Shenzhen officials who were arrested on charges relating to corruption. In December 2002, the Shenzhen People's Intermediate Court sentenced Zhao Yucun, former Commissioner of Shenzhen Customs, to life imprisonment for taking bribes of 9 million RMB. In November 2003, the Guangzhou People's Intermediate Court charged former Shenzhen Deputy Mayor Wang Ju with bribery and abuse of power and sentenced him to 20 years in prison. In June 2005, the Shenzhen People's Intermediate Court charged sentenced Luohu District Public Security Director An Huijun to 15 years in prison for accepting bribes. In May 2011, the Zhengzhou Intermediate Court sentenced former mayor Xu Zongheng to the death penalty with a two-year reprieve for accepting bribes up to US$5.4 million.
Administrative divisions
Shenzhen has direct jurisdiction over nine administrative Districts and one New District:
Shenzhen was originally Bao'an County. On 5 March 1979, the State Council of the People's Republic of China dissolved the county and set up the city of Shenzhen in its place initially with six districts: Luohu (罗湖), Nantou (南头), Songgang (松岗), Longhua (龙华), Longgang (龙岗), and Kuiyong (葵涌), with the seat based in Luohu. In October 1981, Bao'an County was re-established, with its region now based outside Shenzhen. In June 1983, the districts were dissolved and re-established instead as five management areas (管理区): Shekou (蛇口; south-west Shenzhen), Nantou (南头; west Shenzhen), Shangbu (上步; central Shenzhen), Luohu (罗湖; east-central Shenzhen), and Shatoujiao (沙头角; far-east Shenzhen). To enforce law and order in the city, the Shenzhen government erected a border known as the second line (Chinese: 二线关), which consisted of barbed wire and checkpoints between the city and the rest of China. Initially, the border control was relatively strict, requiring non-Shenzhen citizens to obtain special permissions for entering. Over the years, border controls have gradually weakened, and permission requirement has been abandoned. In January 1990, the city merged Shekou Management Area and Nantou Management Area to form the Nanshan District, renamed Shangbu Management Area to the Futian District, and merged Luohu Management Area and Shatoujiao Management Area to form the Luohu District. In December 1992, Bao'an County was dissolved again, with its area taken by Shenzhen and split into two new districts: Bao'an District and Longgang District, though economic privileges within special economics zones did not pertain to them as they were outside the second line border. At this point, Shenzhen has five districts: Luohu, Futian, Nanshan, Bao'an, and Longgang. In March 1998, Shenzhen's government created the Yantian District from the eastern portions of the Luohu District (the original area of the Shatoujiao Management District), and within the second line border. Yantian, Luohu, Futian, and Nanshan together as the special economic districts within the second line border are referred to as guannei (关内; 'within the border') while districts that are outside the second line and do not have special economic privileges such as Bao'an and Longgang are referred to as guanwai (关外; 'outside the border'). The Shenzhen government later established two new districts as part of the guanwai: Guangming New District in August 2007 and Pingshan New District in June 2009. On 1 July 2010, the second line border was dissolved, and the Shenzhen SEZ was expanded to cover the entire city. Therefore, the four guanwai districts Bao'an District, Longgang District, Guangming New District, and Pingshan New District, would be given special economic privileges like the guannei districts. The area of the Shenzhen SEZ also increased from 396 square kilometres (153 sq mi) to 1,953 square kilometres (754 sq mi). Since June 2015, the existing unused border structures have been demolished and are being transformed into urban greenspaces and parks. On 15 January 2018, the State Council approved the removal of the barbed wire fence set up to mark the boundary of the SEZ. In early 2011, the provincial government of Guangdong approved the establishment of the Shenzhen-Shantou Special Cooperation Zone in the city and SEZ of Shantou, Guangdong that will last until 2040 with the purpose of economic development. The zone would be managed by Shenzhen and another Cantonese city, Shanwei. The zone is under the jurisdiction of Shenzhen instead of Shantou, with residents living there considered to be permanent residents of Shenzhen. The Shenzhen government later established two new districts on 27 October 2011, Longhua New District and Dapeng New District. With approval of the State Council, Shenzhen re-organized Longhua New District as Longhua District and Pingshan New District as Pingshan District on 11 October 2016 and Guangming New District as Guangming District on 24 May 2018, therefore becoming their own jurisdictions.
Economy
Shenzhen was the first of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) to be established by then paramount leader Deng Xiaoping. Back to Apr 1979, Shenzhen was reformed as a Special Export Zone to create a favorable investment environment and introduce advanced technology and management experience, later renamed to Special Economic Zone in May 1980. As of 2022, Shenzhen has a nominal GDP of 3.24 trillion RMB (HK$2.87 trillion), which surpassed neighboring Hong Kong's GDP of HK$2.11 trillion and Guangzhou's GDP of 2.88 trillion RMB (HK$2.68 trillion), making the economic output of Shenzhen the 3rd largest out of Chinese cities, trailing behind Shanghai and Beijing. In addition, Shenzhen's GDP growth between 2016 and 2017 of 8.8% surpassed that of Hong Kong and Singapore, with 3.7% and 2.5% respectively. With a market capitalization of US$2.5 trillion as of 30 November 2018, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (SZSE) is the 8th largest exchange in the world. In the 2021 Global Financial Centres Index, Shenzhen was ranked as having the 8th most competitive and largest financial center in the world and 6th in Asia & Oceania region (after Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, and Tokyo). As of 2020, Shenzhen is ranked as an Alpha- (global first-tier) city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network. According to Forbes, Shenzhen has the fifth-highest number of billionaires of any city in the world. Shenzhen's nominal GDP is projected to be among the world top 10 largest cities in 2035 (together with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China) according to a study by Oxford Economics and its nominal GDP per capita will reach above US$57,000 (ranking first in mainland China) in 2030, which is comparable to Tokyo and Seoul. Shenzhen is part of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that runs from the Chinese coast south to the tip of India via the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, there to the Upper Adriatic region to the northern Italian hub of Trieste with its rail connections to Central Europe and the North Sea. As of August 2023, Shenzhen has the seventh-most Fortune Global 500 headquarters of any city in the world and the third-most in China after (Beijing and Shanghai) within its city limits.
Industry
Shenzhen's industry is described by its Municipal Bureau of Statistics to be upheld by its four-pillar industries: high tech, finance, logistics, and culture.
High Tech Shenzhen is a large hub of the Chinese and global technology industry and home to a large startup ecosystem. As of 2020 the city was ranked as the 4th Fintech powerhouse in the world. Shenzhen is primarily known for its high-tech industry, which has a value of 585.491 billion RMB (US$82.9 billion) in 2015, a 13 percent increase compared to last year. Out of the nominal GDP of 1,750.299 billion RMB in 2015 the high-tech industry generated 33.4 percent. Shenzhen is home to a number of prominent tech firms, such as Huawei, Tencent, DJI, and ZTE. Other tech firms include personal computer manufacturer Hasee, Hytera, and OnePlus. Huaqiangbei is a wholesale hub for consumer high-tech products like smartphones and gadgets. Shenzhen annually holds the China International High-tech Achievements Fair, which showcases high-tech products and provides for dialogue and investment for high-tech. As a result, Shenzhen is dubbed by media outlets as "China's Silicon Valley" or the "Silicon Valley of Hardware" for the world. Shenzhen hosts BYD Company and has become a manufacturer of automobiles; it produced 2.9 million automobiles in 2024, overtaking Guangzhou to become the largest car manufacturing city in China.
Financial services Shenzhen is home to a number of large financial institutions, such as China Merchants Bank and Ping An Insurance and its subsidiary Ping An Bank. Since the city's establishment as a SEZ, a number of foreign banks had established offices in the city, including Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, and Bank of East Asia. In total, the financial industry accounts for 14.5% of the city's nominal GDP in 2015 (254.282 billion RMB), which was a 15.9% increase over the previous year. By the end of 2016, the total assets of the financial industry amounted to 12.7 trillion RMB (banking industry assets were 7.85 trillion RMB, security companies assets were 1.25 trillion RMB, and insurance industry assets were 3.6 trillion RMB), making Shenzhen's financial industry the third largest in China. Shenzhen is one of the world's top ten financial centers as of 2019, jumping five places to ninth place as determined by "variety of areas of competitiveness, including business environment, human capital, infrastructure, financial sector development and reputation."
Container port
SF Express and China International Marine Containers (CIMC) have their headquarters in Shenzhen. The Port of Shenzhen comprises the Yantian International Container Terminals, the Chiwan Container Terminals, the container terminals of the Shekou Industrial Zone, the China Merchants Port, and Shenzhen Haixing. The Port of Shenzhen is therefore capable of handling a record volume of containerization. With rising trade increased cargo shipments in 2005, the container port was ranked as the world's fourth-busiest container port.High port traffic levels combined with a high urban population make Shenzhen a large port megacity. The logistics industry accounts for around 10.1 percent (178.27 billion RMB) of the city's nominal GDP in 2015, which was an increase of 9.4 percent. Shenzhen Port's first foreign trade blockchain cargo release platform was launched in 2021. Also in 2021, a month-long COVID-related slowdown in processing shipping containers at the port caused a shock to global supply chains.
Cultural industry Shenzhen had prioritized the cultural industry in according to the 13th Five-Year Plan, establishing the Shenzhen Fashion Creative Industry Association (深圳市时尚文化创意协会) and planning the 4.6 square-kilometer Dalang Fashion Valley (大浪时尚创意城). On 7 December 2008, UNESCO approved Shenzhen's entrance into the Creative Cities Network, and awarded the Shenzhen the title of "United Nations Design Capital". Altogether, the cultural industry in turn contributes to 5.8 percent (102.116 billion RMB) of Shenzhen's economy in 2015. Shenzhen-based video game developer Game Science released Black Myth: Wukong, which achieved significant commercial success on its 20 August 2024 release. The game is set against the backdrop of the classic novel, Journey to the West.
Real estate In addition to the four pillar industries that were listed by the municipal government, Shenzhen also has a relatively notable real-estate industry. The real-estate industry altogether contributes to 9.2 percent (162.777 billion RMB) of Shenzhen's economy in 2015, which was an increase of 16.8 percent compared to the previous year. Real estate developers such as the Evergrande Group, Vanke, and China Resources Land are headquartered within the city.
High Tech Industrial Development Zone
In 1996, the State Council approved and established the 11.5 km2 (4.4 sq mi) Shenzhen High-tech Industrial Development Zone, helping to develop Shenzhen's high-tech industry in areas such as electronics and information technology. In accordance to the National Plan in 2001, the Shenzhen Software Park, integrated within the High-tech Industrial Development Zone, was established for software production and assists in the development of the city's software industry. On 26 August 2010, the State Council approved the "Overall Development Plan for Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone" to solidify ties between Hong Kong and Shenzhen.
Tourism
Tourism is gradually growing as an important industry for Shenzhen. Shenzhen has been ranked second on the list of 'top 10 cities to visit in 2019' by Lonely Planet. The Shenzhen administration in its "12th Five-Year Plan for Tourism Development of Shenzhen" had focused on turning the city into an international tourist hub, with emphasis on the city's scientific, fashion, and industrial elements. The Shenzhen tourist industry is claimed by the local administration in having a strong development advantage, due to the city being one of the tier-one cities in China, as well as being known for its coastal resources, climate environment, capitalist economy, and technological innovation. In 2015 the tourism industry's total revenue was 124.48 billion RMB (US$17.6 billion), a 98.1 percent increase from 2010. Out of the total revenue, 28 percent (35 billion RMB or US$4.968 billion) came from international tourists, an increase of 56.2 percent from 2010. In addition, in that year, Shenzhen received 11.63 million tourists, a 51 percent increase from 2010.
Shenzhen has numerous tourist destinations, ranging from recreational areas such as theme parks and public parks to tall buildings. Most of the tourist attractions are part of Overseas Chinese Town (OCT), a colloquial name for parks owned by OCT Enterprises and is classified as an AAAAA scenic area by the China National Tourism Administration. These include the Window of the World, the Splendid China Folk Village, Happy Valley (欢乐谷), OCT East, and OCT Harbour. Other theme parks include Shekou Sea World (海上世界), Xiaomeisha Sea World, and the now-closed Minsk World. Shenzhen also has a number of popular public parks and beaches, such as People's Park, Lianhuashan Park, Lizhi Park, Zhongshan Park, Wutongshan Park, Dameisha (大梅沙) and Xiaomeisha (小梅沙). The city is also home to tall buildings such as the Ping An Finance Centre, KK100, and the Shun Hing Square (also known as Di Wang Tower). There are 314 star-rated hotels in Shenzhen as of Q3 2022. International luxury brands including Mandarin Oriental, Park Hyatt, Raffles and Conrad; upper-upscale brands including Sheraton Hotels, Marriott Hotels, and Hilton Hotels. Select-service chains including Holiday Inn, and Courtyard by Marriott all have presence in the city amongst local chains, offering both urban hotels in key business districts and beach resorts in Dameisha, Xiaomeisha and Jinshawan (Golden Bay). Notably, the St. Regis Hotels & Resorts occupies the top portion of the KK100 skyscraper.
Shenzhen's tourism industry is recently expanding under the "13th Five-Year Plan for Tourism Development of Shenzhen" as promoted under the Shenzhen local government. In this plan, the tourist industry plans to exceed 200 billion RMB and receive 150 million domestic and foreign tourists by 2020. In 2023 an increasing numbers of Hong Kong residents began visiting Shenzhen during weekends, which in turn caused Hong Kong service establishments to face a decline in business.
Retail Retail is an important pillar of Shenzhen's tertiary sector. Out of the added value of Shenzhen's tertiary sector of 1.42 trillion RMB (US$201 billion) in 2018, retail contributed 43% (616.89 billion RMB) of this amount, a 7.6 percent increase compared to last year (601.62 billion RMB). In addition, 10.9% of Shenzhen's FDI is directed towards the wholesale and retail sector.
Huaqiang North (华强北) is one of Shenzhen's notable retail areas, being known for having one of the largest electronics markets in the world. Luohu Commercial City, a commercial complex located adjacent to Shenzhen Railway Station, is noted for having a variety of products that ranges from electronics and counterfeit goods to tailored suits and curtains. In addition to Huaqiang North and Luohu Commercial City, Shenzhen has numerous shopping malls and commercial areas, including COCO Park and its branches COCO City and Longgang COCO Park, Uniworld (壹方天地), Uniwalk (壹方场), and Coastal City (海岸城). Shenzhen is also home to drugstore chain China Nepstar. "Smart retail", which uses technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data in production, circulation, and sales of consumer goods, has been growing popular within enterprises in Shenzhen. Businesses in Shenzhen are encouraged to use the Internet to develop the consumer market, and new retail projects focus on incorporating technology into the business. In addition, the Shenzhen administration is setting up a new retail industry development fund to promote the use of "smart retail," with the intention of stimulating the economy of Shenzhen and to turn the city into a "new retail" hub.
Demographics
As of 2020, Shenzhen had a total permanent population of 17,560,000, with 5,874,000 (33.4 percent) of them hukou holders (registered locally). As Shenzhen is a young city, senior citizens above 60 years old took up only 5.36 percent of the city's total population. Despite this, the life expectancy in Shenzhen is 81.25 in 2018, ranking among the top twenty cities in China. The male to female ratio in Shenzhen is 130 to 100, making the city having the highest sex disparity in comparison to other cities in Guangdong. Shenzhen also has a high birth rate compared to other Chinese cities with 21.7 babies for every 10,000 of its 13.44 million population in 2019. Based on the population of its total administrative area, Shenzhen is the fifth most populous city proper in China. Shenzhen is part of the Pearl River Delta Metropolitan Region (covering cities such as Guangzhou, Dongguan, Foshan, Zhongshan, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Hong Kong, and Macau), the world's largest urban area according to the World Bank, which has a population of 78 million according to the 2020 census. Before Shenzhen's establishment as a SEZ in 1980, the area was composed mainly of Hakka and Cantonese people. When the SEZ was established, the city attracted migrants from all around Guangdong, including Hakka, Cantonese, and Teochew, as well as migrants from Southern and Central Chinese provinces such as Hunan, Guangxi, Jiangxi, Sichuan, and Henan. Most of these migrants live in urban villages called chengzhongcun (城中村; 'village in the city') such as Baishizhou in the Nanshan District. Shenzhen also has a notable Korean minority based in the Nanshan District and the Futian District originating from migrants moving to Shenzhen to work for South Korean companies that had branched out into the city when China had started reform and opening up. Due to Shenzhen's population overshooting the 14.8 million population target for 2016 to 2020, the Shenzhen justice bureau on 25 May 2021 announced it would make it harder to earn a hukou to live in the city. In regard to the registered population (hukou), Shenzhen experienced an increase of 2.178 million (58.9 percent) registered residents in the city from 2015 to 2020. The city's permanent population increased by 7,136,088 (68.46 percent) from 2010 to 2020, for an average annual growth rate of 5.35%.
Religion According to the Department of Religious Affairs of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government, the two main religions present in Shenzhen are Buddhism and Taoism. Every district also has Protestant and Catholic churches, as well as mosques. Shenzhen also hosts the headquarters of the Holy Confucian Church, established in 2009.
Languages Prior to the establishment of Special Economic Zone, the indigenous local communities could be divided into Cantonese and Hakka speakers, which were two cultural and linguistic sub-ethnic groups vernacular to Guangdong province. Two Cantonese varieties were spoken locally. One was a fairly standard version, known as standard Cantonese. The other, spoken by several villages south of Fuhua Road, was called Weitou dialect. Two or three Hong Kong villages south of the Shenzhen River also speak this dialect. This is consistent with the area settled by people who accompanied the Southern Song court to the south in the late 13th century. The influx of migrants from other parts of the country has drastically altered the city's linguistic landscape, as Shenzhen has undergone a language shift towards Mandarin, which was both promoted by the Chinese Central Government as a national lingua franca and natively spoken by most of the out-of-province immigrants and their descendants. However, in recent years multilingualism has been on the rise as descendants of immigrants of out-of-province Mandarin native speakers have begun to assimilate into the local culture through friends, television and other media. Despite the ubiquity of Mandarin Chinese, according to the SCMP, some Shenzhen residents, Cantonese and non-Cantonese alike, have attempted to revive the Cantonese language as part of Shenzhen's culture.
Cityscape
In 2019, Shenzhen has been dubbed by The Guardian as "the world leader completing new skyscrapers." The city is ranked the second in the world in terms of the number of buildings above 150 meters, with 297 of them completed as of July 2021, after neighboring Hong Kong. There were more skyscrapers completed in Shenzhen in the year 2016 than in the whole of the US and Australia combined. The construction boom continues today with over 85 skyscrapers under construction across the city as of 2021, the most in the world. Most of the skyscrapers in Shenzhen were built by either Hong Kong or foreign-based architects, utilizing a modern style, though functionalism was a dominant form of architecture in the city's skyscrapers in the late 20th century. Among the most prominent examples are the 160 metres (525 ft) high Guomao Building, the 384 metres (1,260 ft) high Shun Hing Square, the 441.8 metres (1,449 ft) high KK100, the 392 metres (1,286 ft) high China R