Shenzhen 深圳: The Silicon Valley of hardware

As China’s third largest city by GDP, Shenzhen presents itself not only as a connection between the state of Macao and the mainland, but also as the world’s capital of hardware,and as China’s leading city in the tech-driven economic zone, holding an important economic power and singular international trade. Center of innovation, the city is also known as the Silicon Valley of hardware and technology, but how did it conquer this status?

Thanks to Shenzhen's unparalleled ecosystem, vast economic markets and culture of speed and openness, the Chinese metropoly managed to attract skilled workers and developers that contributed to the development and fostering of a culture of problem solving and innovation. From a fishing town to a global market, Shenzhen now holds 90% of the world’s electronics; an unexpected economic rise that was fueled by being the first China’s SEZ (Special Economic Zone) and foreign center. An experiment designed to attract foreign investment conducted in 1980, brought the city to become the home of 17 million of people and it contributes more than 480 billion dollar GDP. Unlike other main Chinese cities, Shenzhen's identity is tied to making things, prototyping, manufacturing and scaling hardware innovations at an unmatched pace. Indeed, a start up can go from an abstract idea to small butch production in just a few weeks,which is something nearly impossible for Western hubs., the reason why some of the world’s most innovative companies were born and/or rely on this tech center. Huawei, DJI, ZTE, BYD, Tencent and even Apple relies on Shenzhen's supply chain, transforming the city not into a simple hub but in a true and unique global heartbeat of hardware.

What are the future goals and objectives of this powerful empire?

The city is in continuous expansion, even though hardware will forever remain Shenzhen’s backbone, the innovative hub is moving towards new fields like AI, fintech, biotech and green tech, building a new path that keeps the city in a leading position for global digital-physical innovations. Therefore, I would say Shenzhen is not just a Chinese story, but it is where the global tech industry turns to transform ideas into reality;to know about it is not mere understanding, but strategy.

Writer: Valentina Ancona