Strategically located in the free-wheeling Guangdong province with long distance from the Communist Power in Beijing, Shenzhen’s home to massive tech firms and renowned tech giants in China, Huawei, ZTE, Tecent, Foxconn, to name a few. Therefore, it’s known as the silicon valley of China.
Shenzhen has undergone rocketed development from a sleepy fishing-village to a huge metropolis with electronics manufacturing infrastructure since 1980, when the Communist Party leader Deng Xiaoping appointed the city as the first Special Economic Zone.
Apparently Shenzhen’s not the center of the tech world. However, with an industrial infrastructure for electronics, it’s not a bad option if you are a startup looking to make a product within budget.
4 reasons why Shenzhen is the silicon valley of China
1. It’s a window to the outside world
A relatively new immigrant city, Shenzhen boarders Hongkong with a long distance from the interference of the Communist party. Its place as the first Special Economic Zone has attracted foreign investment and immigrants from home and abroad to fuel its development. The huge metropolis is a perfect blend of inland culture and foreign culture, featuring openness, tolerance and innovation.
2. It’s an electronic manufacturing kingdom
Shenzhen has much more to offer with a full range of electronics manufacturing infrastructure whether you are looking for an injection-molding master, a drone-maker, wearables, etc. It’s said that 90% of electronics in the world are made in Shenzhen.
Huaqiangbei, something of an urban legend, has been a signature landmark in Shenzhen with a kingdom of global electronics ranging from discrete components to fully assembled electronics. A stroll down Huaqiangbei, you’ll find the pavements being choked with abundance of small gadgets like power-banks, phone cases, protectors, semi-products, microchips…etc.
A peek into the large wholesale markets in huaqiangbei you’ll also be amazed at the countless tiny booths crammed with various kinds of electronics. Factories from different districts in Shenzhen usually maintain a presence in Huaqiangbei with shop and sales representatives.
Shenzhen offers not only a full industrial infrastructure for electronics but also a real ethos of speed in prototyping products into markets as soon as possible.
3. It’s an epicenter for hardware innovation
Innovation? China? Most people would be laughing since China seems to be nothing relative to bold innovations but rather a technology copycat, stealing designs and intellectual properties from western countries and make cheap knock-offs. However, facing the fierce competition of world economy, many local manufacturers came to understand that they would no longer benefit by just being an OEM/ODM manufacturer as soon as other parts of the world(Vietnam, India, Bangladesh…etc.) improve their manufacturing capabilities. To move forward, they have to focus on in-house innovation and stay at the cutting-edge of design and functions.
4. It’s an innovation hub with government incentives
To encourage high tech companies, Chinese government has also implemented lots of funding and incentives for high-tech enterprises. Foreign enterprises in Shenzhen have enjoyed simplified application process, tax cuts and lower fees for land use. For companies located in Qianhai Free Trade Zone which is designed to improve interaction between mainland and Hongkong in IT, financial and logistic sectors, they can enjoy great incentives such as CIT exemptions for the first two profit yielding years and tax deductions for R&D investments.
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