Software industry a key momentum for new quality productive forces

As Shenzhen’s initial pilot demonstration zone and a core area for the digital economy, Longhua District has consistently led the development of the digital economy in Shenzhen and even nationwide. The district is recently propelling the high-quality development of its software industry by accelerating the construction of its Shenzhen North Software Industrial Base and HarmonyOS Ecosystem Industrial Park, aiming to foster momentum for the digitalization of the manufacturing industry and new quality productive forces, according to a notice issued by the district’s industry and information technology bureau.

According to a three-year plan for the construction of the Shenzhen North Software Industrial Base issued by the district on April 9, Longhua has designated the Huide and Huilong Buildings, the Longhua Digital Innovation Center, Hongshan 6979 at the Shenzhen North Railway Station, and the South China Logistics Park and Digital Valley as the launch and expansion areas for a municipal cluster for software and information service industries and relevant talents. This cluster will collaborate with the HarmonyOS Ecosystem Industrial Parks in the district to establish Shenzhen as a hub for the newly emerging software industry.

As per an action plan supporting the research and development of open-source and native HarmonyOS applications, the city will establish HarmonyOS Ecosystem Industrial Parks in Longhua’s Shenzhen North Railway Station area, Nanshan’s High-Tech Park area, and Longhua’s Bantian Subdistrict. Once operational, these industrial parks will serve as bases for HarmonyOS-related tech enterprises, software engineers and several public service institutions.

The district’s industry and information technology bureau will upgrade its digital public service platform by introducing an exclusive page for developers of native HarmonyOS apps. The bureau will also release additional preferential policies to support the construction of the HarmonyOS Ecosystem Industrial Parks. These policies will cover areas such as rental subsidies, startup incubation, talent housing, industrial funding, computing power subsidies, and trial operations.

The district will also offer over 400,000 square meters of industrial land for the construction of these industrial parks, explore more application scenarios of native HarmonyOS apps in the lighting, parking and security system of the parks and other public spaces, and establish a complete talent training mechanism of HarmonyOS engineers and developers.

In 2023, Longhua District's software and information service enterprises above a designated size achieved a revenue of 50.908 billion yuan, marking a year-on-year increase of 19.65%. Among this, the software industry revenue reached 11.177 billion yuan, growing by 14.9%, with the number of enterprises reaching 103; the internet and related services industry revenue reached 39.731 billion yuan, with a growth of 21.1%. In the first quarter of 2024, the district’s software industry continued to rise, with a revenue of 2.525 billion yuan and a year-on-year increase of 19.2%.

To continuously enhance the soft power of the software industry, Longhua District will continue to strengthen the cultivation and support of software enterprises by building a collaborative development pattern among enterprises of different scales. Specific measures include supporting leading enterprises, promoting the commercialization of scientific research achievements, and holding investment promotion events to attract more enterprises to Longhua.

In the future, Longhua District will release over 1.2 million square meters of industrial space to support the construction of a headquarters base for listed software enterprises and the development of research, design, development, and manufacturing of industrial software with independent intellectual property rights. By 2026, the Shenzhen North Software Industrial Base, together with the Shenzhen Bay Science Ecological Park, will develop into a city-level core cluster of the software information industry and talent.