Shenzhen is the window to China's reform and opening up.
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Shenzhen is a city born for innovation, and the key to its quick rise lies in its capability of continuous innovation. In the early years of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, Shenzhen took the lead in making breakthroughs and disseminating new ideas by creating "firsts” for China’s reform and development, such as issuing China’s first stock and holding China’s first land auction. During the transitional period of development, Shenzhen once again successfully transformed itself into a pioneer of innovative development when China’s economy is under the new normal phase, becoming a city of makers and a city of innovation.
As the first national innovative city and a State demonstration area of independent innovation, Shenzhen advanced in the notion of reinforcing the joint development of innovation, entrepreneurship, venture capital investment and makers to build the city into a modern international innovative city.
In 2015, Shenzhen’s PCT applications reached 13,300, up 14.3% from the previous year, topping large and medium-sized Chinese cities for 12 consecutive years. The patent ownership per 10,000 people reached 73.7, topping Chinese cities. In 2015, Shenzhen took four seats out of the 10 Chinese on Forbes’ list of China-U.S. innovative figures. Two Shenzhen research achievements were selected for the 2014 China’s scientific progresses. Shenzhen has become an innovative city of China, as well as the world. Innovation has become a synonym for Shenzhen.
As early as 2013, Shenzhen had 2,524 venture capital institutions and management funds of 300 billion yuan, accounting for one-third of the national total. Of the more than 3,500 enterprises invested by Shenzhen venture capital institutions, over 300 got listed on domestic and overseas markets. Among the 355 enterprises listed on the growth board ChiNext, 238 enterprises had venture capital investment, accounting for 67.04% of the ChiNext enterprises. Of the 238 enterprises, 96 were invested by Shenzhen’s venture capital institutions, accounting for 40.34%. Shenzhen will further the multi-level development and reform of its financial system, and will expand the scale of venture capital investment, build a city of venture capital investment, and promote the cluster development of venture capital investment and private equity funds.
The spirit of entrepreneurship was engraved in Shenzhen from the moment of its birth, supporting Shenzhen’s rapid development and continuous innovation. As a rising city, Shenzhen has built its prosperity on the spirit of entrepreneurship, incubating a group of famous private enterprises, including Huawei, ZTE, Tencent, BYD etc. The reform of business registration system, which started from March 1, 2013, further invigorated the market of startups, breeding a large number of enterprises of various sizes. In the same year, Shenzhen’s commercial subjects exceeded 1 million, which means that there was one commercial subject among every 13 citizens and one enterprise for every 26 citizens. Shenzhen lives up to its reputation as a city of entrepreneurship.
In recent years, the number of makers in Shenzhen has been growing drastically. Many institutions have gained much fame and influence both domestically and overseas, including Chaihuo Maker Space, Makeblock and Seeed Studio. Huaqiangbei, as depicted in the ”Map of Makers,” has become one of the top collecting and distributing centers of electronic parts and components in Asia, providing a platform for the most creative minds around the world. Even the largest innovative hardware incubator from the Silicon Valley, HAXLR8R, has joined this thriving market. It has been decided that a Maker Week is held every June in Shenzhen. A huge platform will be built to connect makers and suppliers, drawing the attention of enterprises and venture capitalists, providing better service for makers, and helping makers turn their innovative ideas into reality to realize their makers’ dreams.