For many cities, 20 years is a fleeting moment that sees them barely changed.
For Shenzhen, 20 years is like a century that witnessed the city being transformed from a labor-intensive manufacturing base to a high-tech hub.
For China, 20 years as a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) saw its GDP expand more than eightfold.
For the rest of the world, these 20 years witnessed lower-priced, quality Chinese-made goods reaching hundreds of millions of households, reducing consumers' costs and improving their quality of life.
Dec. 11, 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of China officially joining the WTO as its 143rd member following 15 years of torturous talks. It was a milestone in China's opening up to the outside world, and a fateful event for Shenzhen.
Boosted by lower tariffs and reduced barriers, China's GDP grew to become the world's second-largest during the 20 years since its WTO entry, while in recent years its contribution to the annual world economic growth has reached almost 30 percent.
During the 20 years, China continuously opened up its domestic market to foreign goods and services and provided abundant opportunities for foreign companies with or without a presence in China.
Shenzhen, established to experiment with the country's reform and opening-up policy, has seen its export-oriented industries grow from strength to strength during the two decades. Its imports and exports surged from 568.18 billion yuan (US$89.22 billion) in 2001 to 3.05 trillion yuan in 2020, growing 436.9 percent with an average annual growth rate of 9.2 percent. Shenzhen has ranked first among Chinese cities in terms of exports for 28 years running.
Cheap labor, convenient sea transportation and proximity to Hong Kong were major factors boosting Shenzhen's exports in the early years of opening up. An improved business environment, a well-established industrial base and superior shipping infrastructures now play dominant roles.
Over the years, Shenzhen has continuously launched reform measures to make it easier to do business. Red tape has been greatly slashed, making the city more friendly to businesses and investment. In the first nine months of this year, Shenzhen saw 4,691 foreign-funded enterprises being registered, rising 50.9 percent year on year.
According to Shenzhen Customs, it took an export shipment 1.02 hours and an import shipment 6.46 hours to pass customs in Shenzhen ports in the first 11 months, 75.16 percent and 91.44 percent shorter than in the same period of 2017.
The China Business Environment Report 2020 compiled by the National Development and Reform Commission listed Shenzhen as the benchmark city for cross-border trade facilitation.
Efficient customs clearance and superior port facilities make Shenzhen an attractive cross-border port.
Western media used to ridicule Shenzhen for churning out cheap products ranging from T-shirts and shoes to toys at "sweatshops” and shipping them to foreign markets. With Shenzhen's industrial structure greatly upgraded over the years, the city is now a well-known exporter of tech products from smartphones to drones, from sleek electric cars to state-of-the-art medical equipment.
Over the years, Shenzhen has been providing various means of support, including tax breaks and subsidies, to tech companies, seeing them as the vital force behind the city's sustainable growth.
Shenzhen launched the first China Hi-Tech Fair in 1999, shortly before China's WTO entry, as a platform to facilitate technology development and exchange. Tencent, then a little-known startup, received its much-needed first venture investment at the first China Hi-Tech Fair. Huawei, which reported 891.4 billion yuan in sales in 2020, achieved only US$100 million in overseas telecom equipment sales in 2000. In the same year, BYD built its first industrial park in Kuichong, Longgang District and became a lithium-ion battery supplier for U.S. cell phone manufacturer Motorola. The rest is history.
Over the years, these tech firms have enjoyed phenomenal growth while most of the labor-intensive factories have gradually moved out of the city. Shenzhen's export-oriented economy has morphed into a technology-driven one.
Shenzhen, well positioned to link domestic and international markets, has been able to take the opportunities offered by China's WTO membership to grow, innovate and upgrade its economy. Against the headwinds of unilateralism and deglobalization, Shenzhen is now embarking on a new journey to blaze a trail for high-quality, low-carbon development.
(The author is a deputy editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily.)