This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. To mark the occasion, we are publishing a series of reports celebrating the city's achievements in different aspects over the past four decades.
Over the past 40 years, Shenzhen has always been putting cultural development in an important place, firmly believing that the strengths of a city lie not only in its economic power, but also in the qualities of its citizens and the level of cultural development, according to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.
Back in time when the local financial revenue was only over 200 million yuan (US$28.48 million), Shenzhen invested one-third of its budget in planning and constructing eight major cultural facilities in the city, such as Shenzhen Grand Theater, Shenzhen Gymnasium and Shenzhen Science Museum.
In 2003, Shenzhen took the lead in putting forward a development strategy of building a culture-based city. "The Cultural Innovative Development 2020 Plan," a blueprint Shenzhen has drawn from for its cultural development, aims to further enrich the spiritual life of residents.
Shenzhen has a network of first-class public cultural facilities that allow residents to enjoy tens of thousands of cultural activities. The "Shenzhen City Culture Menu" has been released for several years to offer year-round cultural events to citizens.
In 2017, EYESHENZHEN, the city's first English-language news portal, was officially launched to boost cultural exchanges between Shenzhen and the world, providing up-to-date news and information about the city for expats and visitors alike.
In 2018, Shenzhen unveiled a plan to build 10 new cultural landmarks. At present, construction of the new cultural facilities is in full swing and the transformation and upgrading of 10 characteristic cultural blocks is also under way across the city.
Additionally, Shenzhen is considering building 31 municipal and 51 district-level cultural and sports facilities. A total of more than 100 cultural and sports facilities will be put into construction in phases in the future.
And more is yet to come. Shenzhen, as it was bestowed a mission to build a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics, will take the lead in building an inclusive, high-quality and sustainable urban public cultural service system, while vigorously developing its digital culture and creative industries.