SZ Design Week puts on a more global look

A series of activities involving the participation of international well-known designers and international design organizations and some cities of UNESCO Creative Cities Network will be held during the Shenzhen Design Week that will be inaugurated April 27.

During its 10-day run until May 6, 10 thematic and 21 serial activities will be held. The event’s highlights include the Global Cities of Design Summit, Global Designers Conference and Global Design Awards Exhibition, according to the organizers at a news conference yesterday.

“This year’s event will be more professional and internationalized. It is the first time for Shenzhen to cooperate with the International Council of Design to co-organize the event, and we had held fashion week promotions in Berlin and Paris earlier this year,” Liu Wenbin, deputy director of the Shenzhen Design Week Organizing Committee Office, said at the news conference.

Visitors admire an exhibit at an exhibition that was part of a series of events held during the 2021 Shenzhen Design Week.

Running on its sixth year, 2023 Shenzhen Design Week will focus on four aspects including design and industry integration, design-led fashion development, design and urban development, and the role of designs in solving urban governance difficulties.

Shenzhen will show applications of designs in technologies and industries. Companies such as BYD, Tencent, Intellifusion and garment brand Eachway will share insights on design development and trends.

“Industrial designs play a vital role in upgrading design capability and creating new business modes both in the city’s traditional industries like jewelry, garment and time pieces, and emerging industries like electronics and medical equipment,” said Zheng Xuan, an official from the city’s industry and information bureau, adding that the bureau will organize a series of activities on the deep integration of designs with industries and explore the ways how industrial designs can help in promoting the manufacturing industry’s upgrades and improving efficiency.

This year also marks the 15th anniversary of Shenzhen being officially designated by the UNESCO as the City of Design in 2008. Shenzhen became the first city in China joining the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, which was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.

Shenzhen now boasts more than 33,000 design enterprises and over 220,000 professional designers, taking the lead in China.