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President Hu hailed Shenzhen SEZ as a "miracle" on Monday as China marked 30 years of reforms of the city that provided the blueprint for the country's economic rebirth.
News
Shenzhen, a southern coastal city neighboring Hong Kong, marked its 30th anniversary as China's first economic reform zone Monday.
Business
President Hu Jintao made a speech in Shenzhen on Monday giving his support to the city and other special economic zones (SEZs), which have proved among the most successful experiments in China's reform and opening up during the last 30 years.
People
Chinese President Hu Jintao Monday encouraged Hong Kong's richest man to play a greater role in the country's reform and opening up as well as modernization.
Background
Shenzhen is located at the southern tip of the Chinese mainland on the eastern bank of the mouth of the Pearl River and neighbors Hong Kong. Occupying an area of 1,953 square kilometers, the city has a subtropical marine climate with plenty of rain and sunshine and is rich in tropical fruit.The brainchild of Deng Xiaoping, the country's first special economic zone was established here by the Chinese Government in 1980. It has been a touchstone for China's reform and opening-up policy since then.
Culture&Art
As copies of the Mona Lisa go, you don't get them much bigger than this. Nor does it usually take so many painters to recreate the masterpiece. And just to make the project even more bizarre, this version of the Mona Lisa sits horizontally on the side of a building.
Companies
BYD Co, China's fourth biggest carmaker backed by Warren Buffett, has seen its electric taxis running on the streets of Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city neighboring Hong Kong, the company's chairman Wang Chuanfu said Friday.
Shenzhen Universiade
Tibet University opened the 2010 University Cartoon Competition on Environmental Protection on July 12 for students from both home and abroad . The event is Jointly hosted by China Daily and the organizing committee of Universiade Shenzhen 2011.
On Aug 26, 1980, Shenzhen, a fishing village in Southern China’s Guangdong province, was approved by the nation’s government to become a Special Economic Zone, a blank page ready to be filled.
People across the country began to flock to this city, a place offering nothing but dreams then. They were not sure what was waiting for them, all they hoped for was a new beginning.
The influx of dream chasers continues to this day, but people who come to this modern city today can never understand what their predecessors experienced three decades ago.
"Groping for stones to cross the river" is an expression that exactly sums up China’s reform and opening-up as well as Shenzhen’s path of development.
To construct a city from scratch, there was no other choice but to work hard, and Shenzhen people came up with the slogan, "Time is money, efficacy is life," which was a completely new concept for Chinese people at that time.
The busy ports and glittering skyscrapers all started out as shabby construction sites; the prosperity today was all built on yesterday’s sweat.
Shenzhen is an open city, assimilating people and cultures from all over China. Now most of its residents are non-locals, and Mandarin has replaced Cantonese to become the standard dialect.
It is this diversity that makes Shenzhen a dynamic city. Its tolerance not only accelerates the economic development, but also makes people who immigrate here feel the warmth and comfort of home.
Shenzhen used to turn into an empty city every Spring Festival, the Chinese festival for family reunions, but now more and more people choose to stay to celebrate the Chinese new year, recognizing Shenzhen as their real hometown.
Shenzhen is a city of love and gratitude, as Shenzhen people know the city's fast development has everything to do with support from other parts of the country.
The city, one of the richest regions in China, has been giving back to society. When Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan last year, Shenzhen donated prefabricated houses; and in the recent landslide in Zhouqu county of Gansu province, Shenzhen donated 2 million yuan ($295,400).
Shenzhen is also home to many volunteers: Footprints of volunteers engaged in education, disaster relief and poverty relief from Shenzhen have been tracked not only across China, but in Africa and Southeast Asia as well.
In the past 30 years, Shenzhen has been one of the most successful models of special economic zones, fulfilling many people's dreams. Now the question facing it is how to maintain its economic momentum.
In the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, Shenzhen Pavilion calls itself "The Frontier for Chinese Dreams", implying that the city intends to continue producing "Chinese dreams".
Shenzhen, now arguably a national economic hub, is aiming higher, hoping to transform its economic success and build itself into an international metropolis.
