Shenzhen has embarked on high-quality development since the Central Government unveiled guidelines on building Shenzhen into a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics Aug. 18, 2019, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
Among the 56 key tasks listed in the guidelines, 14 of them were already accomplished, and 42 saw breakthroughs. The city’s 47 practices in five areas are promoted throughout the country.
Shenzhen aims to build itself into a high-tech and industrial innovation highland with global influence. Over the past three years, progress has been made in the construction of the comprehensive national science center and Pengcheng Laboratory. By fostering high-quality development, the city saw steady economic growth, according to official data. In 2021, Shenzhen’s GDP exceeded 3 trillion yuan (US$441.9 billion) and local budget revenue was 425.8 billion yuan. In addition, total import and export volume was 3.5 trillion yuan, ranking first among mainland cities for 29 consecutive years, while direct foreign investment reached nearly US$11 billion.
Endeavors are being made to create a rule-by-law city to support and safeguard the building of the pilot demonstration area. Over the past three years, Shenzhen has underscored judicial efforts in regulating personal bankruptcy, data collection, environmental protection and autonomous vehicles.
China’s first individual bankruptcy regulation came into force on March 1, 2021 in Shenzhen. At the same time, city established the country’s first personal bankruptcy administration agency. Sources from Shenzhen Bankruptcy Court said that since the yearlong trial for personal bankruptcy, as of Feb. 28 this year, Shenzhen Intermediate People’s Court had received a total of 1,031 personal bankruptcy applications, with an average of nearly 86 applications per month.
Over the past three years, Shenzhen has actively established a high-level public cultural service system and a modern cultural industry system. The city has become a caring community with 2.8 million people registered as volunteers as of this mid-March.
The transformation of the city’s 10 featured cultural blocks have been completed. Among them, Shekou Binhai Cultural and Creative Block has been awarded the national night economy tourism spot.
The city always adopts a people-centered approach, and it keeps providing more qualified and balanced public service facilities. In terms of education, this September, three high school parks in Longgang, Pingshan and Guangming districts will welcome their first batch of students, greatly enlarging school admissions in Shenzhen. Meanwhile, Southern University of Science and Technology has been listed as one of the national “double first-class universities” and three colleges were greenlighted for construction. In terms of medical resources, Shenzhen now has 30 grade-A tertiary hospitals that represent the highest level of hospitals in China.
Being a pilot area in sustainable development, Shenzhen unveiled its Gross Ecosystem Product (GEP) accounting system, the first of its kind in China, on March 23. And the city’s GEP in 2020 was 130.38 billion yuan. In the last three years, the average annual concentration of PM2.5 is 18 micrograms per cubic meter, the ratio of days with good air quality reaches 96.2%.