Shenzhen Daily’s first issue July 1, 1997.

We are 20 now.

Hitting the press for the first time July 1, 1997, Shenzhen Daily, as the mainland’s first local English newspaper, was created to embrace an epic era that would witness Hong Kong’s historic handover as well as Shenzhen’s spectacular transformation into one of the world’s fastest-growing cities and technology hubs.

It is the brainchild of its visionary founding publisher who envisaged a need for an English newspaper in Shenzhen, convinced that the city would play a bigger role as a window to the outside world as China intensified its drive to open up after Hong Kong’s return.

Shenzhen Daily itself demonstrated the fast growth and audacity of the city it calls home, starting with a small editorial team serving a minute expatriate population, who mostly resided in a tiny enclave in the then outlying Shekou. Initially publishing once a week with eight pages, the newspaper began to be available twice a week just months after its inception. And a year later, it jumped to three issues a week. The paper became a true daily newspaper Jan. 1, 2002, when it began to publish from Monday to Friday.

As the Internet, smartphone and social media upended the good old days of print media, Shenzhen Daily has evolved with the changing times, launching China’s first English electronic newspaper in 2007, Indonesian and U.S. editions and Shenzhen Mobile News in 2009, an official microblog account in 2011 and an official WeChat account in 2013, and then Facebook and Twitter accounts to reach a global audience.

In recent years, it has also thrust itself into new markets, securing deals with the city and district governments to operate their English websites, publish special editions like Futian Today and Coastal Bao’an, as well as organize government-sponsored events. On May 9, 2016, under the sponsorship of the municipal government, the newspaper launched Shenzhen’s English portal, eyeshenzhen.com, which is aimed at serving expatriates with the latest news and useful information to make their lives and work easier.

For 20 years, Shenzhen Daily has tried its best to stay relevant amidst the rising global interest in the Shenzhen miracle, and to serve expatriates who are eager to feel the pulse of the dynamic city and keep abreast of the city’s phenomenal development.

Even as new media has brought shockwaves to traditional press in recent years, Shenzhen Daily has kept the print version unaffected to ensure trustworthy and responsible news reporting. Our expatriate readers may be more difficult to serve than their Chinese counterparts as they are constantly on the move, are scattered around the city, and hold diverse views, but we are determined to hold on to our unique and historic mission as the only English-language daily newspaper in a city that will eventually acquire an international profile on par with its economic and technological clouts.

As we turn 20, destiny calls again. The Belt and Road Initiative and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area plan are bringing immense opportunities and responsibilities for English-language news outlets in China, particularly for those in Shenzhen, a crucial cog in the ambitious bay area plan.

As we turn 20, challenges rise. The fast-changing media landscape and readers’ needs and reading behaviors require us to work harder. For print media, it may be the worst of times, but for a newspaper serving a rapidly expanding expatriate community, it may be the best of times.

As we turn 20, we start anew. We are even more determined than before to adapt to change, and reinvigorate our roles as a compass for expatriates in exploring the city and as a bridge between the government and the expatriate community.