Shenzhen is located on the southern tip of the Chinese mainland and on the eastern bank of the Pearl River. It neighbors Hong Kong. Occupying 1,997.47 square kilometers, the city has a subtropical marine climate with plenty of rain and sunshine and is rich in tropical fruit.
The country's first special economic zone — the brainchild of late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping — was established here in 1980. Shenzhen has been a touchstone for China's reform and opening-up policy since then.
Night scenery of Shenzhen. [Photo/sz.gov.cn]
Over the past four decades, Shenzhen, once a tiny border town of just over 30,000 people, has grown into a modern and international metropolis.
The city is the high-tech and manufacturing hub of southern China, home to the world's third-busiest container port and the fourth-busiest airport on the Chinese mainland. It is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations.
It was also elected one of the top 10 Chinese cities popular with expats in 2015. The high-tech, financial services, modern logistics and cultural industries are mainstays of the city. Emerging industries of strategic importance and modern service industries are quickly becoming new engines for the city's economic growth. Shenzhen has set up new standards of "Shenzhen Quality" and "China Quality" on sustainable development and globalization.
In 2025, Shenzhen's GDP reached 3.87 trillion yuan ($542.2 billion), the total industrial output value of enterprises above designated size stood at 5.44 trillion yuan, and the total foreign trade volume hit 4.55 trillion yuan, achieving remarkable development results across all sectors.
Shenzhen is the window of China's reform and opening-up and one of the Chinese cities that enjoys the highest degree of opening-up. Its export has topped the nation's large and medium-sized cities for 32 consecutive years.
A bird's-eye view of Nan'ao county, Dapeng New District [Photo/dpxq.gov.cn]
The city strives to play a pivotal role in the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative to build itself into a gateway along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road by making full use of its geographic location and advantages in business and human resources, putting emphasis on the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Big Bay Area, and focusing on transportation connectivity, economic and trade cooperation and cultural exchanges.
Shenzhen is an ecological garden city, with half of its total area under a form of environmental protection that bans construction. It is China's first city to win the Nations in Bloom Award, and is named on the United Nations Environment Program's Global 500 Laureate Roll of Honor.
During the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), Shenzhen will focus on high-quality development and innovation-driven growth, advancing the construction of the "Five Major Centers". It will strengthen the advantages of industries like smart terminals, lay out future tracks including 6G and low-altitude economy, deepen Shenzhen-Hong Kong sci-tech collaboration, optimize people's livelihood services and ecological construction, and continuously enhance global competitiveness. By 2035, Shenzhen's high-quality development will be a national model, and it will lead the world in comprehensive economic competitiveness. By the middle of this century, Shenzhen will stand out as one of the world's advanced cities and become a global benchmark city with outstanding competitiveness, innovation and influence.
Official Website: https://www.sz.gov.cn/en/index.html
