What can be achieved in three decades? For a person, 30 years brings a world of maturity and responsibility. For a civilization, 30 years is the blink of an eye. But for an individual city, 30 years of change can mean the difference between night and day.  

“The iron curtain is raised,” stated The New York Times with careful wording on August 27, 1980, reporting on the birth of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with a cautiously optimistic tone. The day before, Regulations on Special Economic Zones in Guangdong Province was passed by the Chinese government, opening Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou, and Xiamen as the first SEZs after decades of isolation from the world outside. Over the subsequent 30 years, Shenzhen has gradually become a world-class metropolis.

Starting with a Mission

Thirty years ago, Shenzhen wasn’t more than a small fishing village in Bao’an County, Guangdong Province, adjacent to Hong Kong. The birth of Shenzhen SEZ began with Wu Nansheng, then the Guangdong Provincial Party secretary. When Wu returned for a visit to his hometown of Shantou in 1979, he was shocked to find it in disarray – full of dilapidated buildings, roadside bamboo sheds, poor infrastructure, bad telephone service, and frequent power cuts.

Wu wondered if there was a quick fix to shake off poverty. “Have you ever thought of opening an export processing zone like those in Taiwan or a free port?” asked one of Wu’s friends from Singapore. “If you establish something like that, the area will get a quick influx of funds.” The idea was discussed within the Guangdong Provincial Government, and the concept became “putting Guangdong a step ahead.” In 1979, Guangdong suggested to the central government that some of their areas implement special policies to attract foreign investment.

“These places can be called Special Economic Zones,” announced the late Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, in support of the idea. “The central government cannot give you financial support. You need to blaze your own trail.”

And with that, the iron curtain was raised. Since the inception of the SEZ, Shenzhen has been branded a focal point of the “economic revolution.”