City's industrial output takes the lead

01-21, 2021

The industrial added value of enterprises at designated- and above-level scale reached 3.7 trillion yuan (US$572 billion), up by 2 percent year on year, Shenzhen Radio said Tuesday, citing a local official.At the program, Bridge of Voice, Jia Xingdong, director of Shenzhen Industry and Information Bureau, said it was the second year for the city to be at the top of the Chinese cities in industrial output.In 2020, Shenzhen had made breakthroughs in new infrastructure and new carrier construction. The city became the first city in the country with full coverage of the 5G network. The city built 46,600 base stations and nearly 10,000 multi-function poles.The technology and industry revolutions will push forward integration of 5G and industrial Internet and accelerate the construction of Digital China and Smart Society.Shenzhen's industrial Internet is entering a fast-track development and takes the lead in platform quality and diversity of application scenarios.In December 2018, Huawei, Foxconn and Hualong were brought into the comprehensive industrial Internet platforms of the Ministry of Industry and Information.In December 2020, Huawei, Foxconn and Tencent were selected into the list of cross-industry industrial Internet platform of Ministry of Industry and Information, taking up one fifth of the total.In scenario applications, Industrial Internet has been used in electronic manufacturing, machinery equipment manufacturing, precision manufacturing, bio-pharmacy manufacturing and garment manufacturing. Huawei and Foxconn have become State-level demonstration enterprises in industrial Internet application. In March 2020, Bao'an Industrial Internet Demonstration Base were officially named as a State-level demonstration base.Nearly half of Shenzhen enterprises reduced their cost through application of industrial Internet. The automation operation of its production processes improved efficiency by 30 percent and benefits by 2.5 times, reduced inventory turnover by 15 percent and labor cost by 88 percent.According to a report cited by Jia, 52.5 percent of enterprises reduced their cost after application of industrial Internet, 53.3 percent of enterprises improved their product performances and 29.4 percent of enterprises reduced loss of materials.Shenzhen worked out an action plan for development of industrial Internet (2018-2020) to construct the industrial Internet industry from forming three systems of core support, integration application and industrial ecology. By the end of 2020, the bureau had provided 455 million yuan in special funds to support 1,030 projects.

City's integrated circuit design takes lead

01-19, 2021

The sales of the city's integrated circuit (IC) design industry in 2020 reached 130 billion yuan (US$20 billion), retaining the lead among Chinese cities for the ninth consecutive year, a Shenzhen Economic Daily report said yesterday, quoting sources from the Shenzhen Semiconductor Industry Association.The city's IC design industry had formed a pattern of one super enterprise and four strong enterprises.Hisilicon has become the largest IC design company, and the revenues of four other enterprises, specifically Sanechips, Goodix, BYD Microelectronics and FocalTech have exceeded 2 billion yuan. Shenzhen has formed an IC design and application industrial cluster of substantial scale and an IC design and application industrial chain in 5G, telecommunications, IoT, touch and display driver, automobile electronics and AI."The city's IC design has been taking the lead in China," Chang Junfeng, secretary general with Shenzhen Semiconductor Industry Association, said.Yet compared to the design capability, the manufacturing capability is weaker, the enterprises are small in size and develop slowly.Statistics provided by the Shenzhen Semiconductor Industry Association showed there are only three semiconductor manufacturers, namely SMIC Shenzhen Branch, Shenzhen Founder Microelectronics Co. Ltd. and Shenzhen SI Semiconductor Co. Ltd. The six production lines can produce low-end IC products, whose wafer size is 8 inches at maximum and technological level remains greater than 90 nanometers."The shortfall in manufacturing, if not made up, will hinder the development of IC design and the whole industry as well," Chang said.The city lacks competitiveness in chip manufacturing, package testing, equipment and materials. Its leading position in design faces challenges from rivalries of other cities because of what it lacks.Talented people are the key to improving competitiveness. Shenzhen, as well the whole country, faces a shortage of chip designers."Shenzhen needs 3,000 talented people for IC industry, but the eight higher learning institutions combined can supply no more than 1,000 talented people," said Chang, adding the high living costs of the city also dampens the expectations of talent coming to work in Shenzhen.Chang suggested the city create polices for IC talent to attract and retain them to work in the city.

SZ offers up to ¥2.5m reward to lure foreign investors

01-14, 2021

Foreign-invested firms that were newly set up or increased investments in Shenzhen will be rewarded up to 2.5 million yuan (US$386,000) based on the actual paid-in foreign capital in the year 2020.According to an implementation plan recently released by the Shenzhen Municipal Commerce Bureau, the city will adopt a tiered award system based on the contributions of foreign investors in actual utilization of foreign capital. But the award will skip real estate, financial and quasi-financial projects.For foreign businesses whose actual utilization of foreign capital ranged between US$5 million and US$10 million last year, the reward will be 1 million yuan.The reward will be doubled to 2 million yuan if the amount of foreign investment in actual use reached US$10-20 million in 2020, but will be capped at 2.5 million yuan if the amount exceeded US$20 million.A pioneer of China's reform and opening up, Shenzhen has been a popular destination for foreign investment.The city is accelerating legislation on the promotion of overseas investment to create a more favorable business environment and better protect the legal rights and interests of overseas investors.According to the city's commerce bureau, Shenzhen's actual use of overseas capital amounted to US$7 billion in the first 10 months of last year, accounting for 6.13 percent of the country's total and growing 7.58 percent year on year, with China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore being the main sources.By the end of September last year, more than 90,000 foreign-invested enterprises had been set up in Shenzhen since the city issued the first business license for a foreign-funded company in 1981.Foreign-funded enterprises, which account for only 2 percent of business entities in Shenzhen, generate about one-fifth of the city's GDP, 40 percent of its import and export volume, and nearly 30 percent of its tax revenue every year, data from the municipal bureau of commerce showed.Despite the heavy impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global economy, Shenzhen has shown strong economic vitality and appealed to foreign investment with its excellent business environment and investment climate.A total of 4,665 foreign-invested enterprises settled in Shenzhen in the first three quarters of 2020, statistics from the city's statistics bureau showed.

Foreign-invested enterprises awarded

01-11, 2021

The 2019/2020 Annual Awards for China's Outstanding Foreign-invested Enterprises in Shenzhen were unveiled Jan. 8, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported over the weekend.The annual awards with a history of 31 years, sponsored by the Shenzhen Association of Enterprises with Foreign Investment (SZAEFI), are recognized as a valuable guide for foreign investors.The 2019/2020 Annual Awards have listed Shenzhen's top 10 foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) leading by revenue of 2019, top 10 tax-paying FIEs of 2019, and 163 FIEs that perform excellently in both revenue and tax paying. The 2020 Awards of Harmonious Labor Relations were given to 89 FIEs, 2020 Awards of Quality Progress to 73, 2020 Awards of Safety and Environmental Protection to 70.Morea Marco, general manager of Unipoint Inc., told Shenzhen Economic Daily, "This award is a high recognition of Unipoint Inc. of Bosch Group, showing that we are on the right track leading to the right goals."Despite the pandemic in 2020, the growth of foreign investment in Shenzhen was still higher than the national average. The data show that in the first 10 months of 2020, China's actual utilization of foreign capital was US$115.09 billion, an increase of 3.9 percent year on year. During the same period, Shenzhen's actual utilization of foreign capital was US$7.055 billion, accounting for 6.13 percent of the country's total and an increase of 7.58 percent year on year, which is much higher than the national average.Hirokazu Sasahara, managing director of Shenzhen Murata Technology Co. Ltd., one of the top 10 FIEs leading by revenue of 2019, said, "The accelerating development of 5G applications in Shenzhen has given us great opportunities. The group aims at increasing production of 5G products in Shenzhen. With the effective COVID-19 control and better social environment in China, we are very confident in the market and our operations in Shenzhen."Since its foundation in 1989, SZAEFI has played an important role in promoting foreign investment in China, guiding the development of member enterprises, encouraging them to fulfill their social responsibilities and further improving the business environment.Guo Xiaohui, executive chairman of SZAEFI, said, "The high-quality development of enterprises and the economy depends on the high-quality associations. An association should help a group of enterprises grow, which will then bring along the development of the industry."

SZ ranks 1st in innovation and entrepreneurship index

12-25, 2020

Shenzhen has retained the top spot for the third straight year in the entrepreneurship and innovation index with a score of 88.16 out of 100, according to a report led by a top expert from the State Council.Shenzhen attaches great importance to the overall improvement of the innovation and entrepreneurship environment, boasts the broadest range of entrepreneurship and innovation resources, and finds the perfect balance between the value of entrepreneurship, innovation and social cost, the report released Wednesday said.In terms of environmental support, which is a subindicator of the index, Shenzhen ranked second only to Shanghai.According to the report, Shenzhen has continued to improve the efficiency and quality of government services through the construction of smart city and digital government. In terms of industrial foundation, the strategic emerging industries in Shenzhen are developing rapidly, with the global competitiveness of high-tech products constantly improving.Shenzhen has introduced very attractive policies for talent introduction, the report said. The proportion of employees in the knowledge-intensive service industry in the city is second only to Shanghai (20.59 percent) and levels with Beijing (16.97 percent), ranking third of nine major Chinese cities.Tao Yitao, a professor with Shenzhen University and a research member of the report, said Shenzhen has continuously promoted the sustainable development of mass entrepreneurship and innovation through better employment, high-quality patents and lower energy consumption.The added value of Shenzhen's high-tech industry accounted for 34.28 percent of the city's GDP, the report showed.Shenzhen has also surpassed Beijing to become the city with most active innovation pursuits. In 2019, the number of patents granted in Shenzhen exceeded 1.66 million, accounting for 6.73 percent of the total number of patents granted in China.Meanwhile, the young metropolis in South China continued to rank first in government efficiency index, exceeding the runner-up by 63 percentage points, according to the report.

SZ takes 1st place in business environment

12-25, 2020

Shenzhen takes first place in the business environment of major Chinese cities, a report jointly released Monday by the Academy of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Studies and the 21st Economic Research Institute showed.The report surveyed the business environment of 296 cities of prefecture level and above. Shenzhen takes first place and is followed by Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Changsha and Wuhan also entered the top 10 list of cities in the business environment ranking.The report surveyed the business environment from six aspects: soft environment, basic facilities, social services, market capacity, business costs and ecological environment. The soft environment weighed 25 percent of the total scores, while market capacity and ecological environment made up 20 percent each. Basic facilities accounted for 15 percent, while social services and business costs evenly divided the remaining 20 percent.First-tier cities each had their own unique advantages in many indexes. Shenzhen has been ranked a top city in number of market entities and the average market entities for every 10,000 people for many years.The number of PCT applications (applications under the Patent Cooperation Treaty) and listed companies based in Shenzhen also ranked first among Chinese cities. It took second place in the increased number of permanent residents in 2019, the average number of patent licensing for every 10,000 people and per capita GDP.Based on the indexes, Shenzhen took first place in soft environment and third place in number of market entities and social services.The average number of market entities and enterprises for every 1,000 people was the major index for judging the vitality of entrepreneurship.Shenzhen had reached the index of 250 market entities for every 1,000 residents and 150 enterprises for every 1,000 residents, taking first place among Chinese cities. Shenzhen is now home to 3 million market entities and 2 million different types of companies.

5G research to be subsidized up to ¥300m

12-24, 2020

Several measures on vigorously promoting the development of 5G innovation applications were released by the Shenzhen Municipal Development and Reform Commission at an award ceremony of the Global 5G Application Competition 2020 at Shenzhen Bay Sports Center in Nanshan District on Tuesday.In terms of 5G application scenarios, the measures will encourage the integration of 5G with vertical industries. The policy supports mainly go toward application of 5G technology in scenarios, such as industrial Internet, connected vehicle, ultra HD video and driverless vehicle systems. A subsidy of up to 30 million yuan (US$4.6 million) will be awarded to the benchmark projects each year.In the area of core technology research, wireless technology, network and service, key components, and testing and instrumentation are key parts of the application of 5G in vertical industries. The projects will receive subsidies up to 40 percent of the total investment. The top grant is 300 million yuan.In the field of innovation carriers, engineering research centers and enterprise technology centers will receive a maximum of 10 million yuan. 5G-related application projects will enjoy priority to apply for national major project support programs. National key laboratories, national engineering research centers and other national innovation carriers will be awarded a maximum of 30 million yuan.The industrialization of 5G core products, such as industrial CPE (customer premise equipment), drones, robots, cameras, law enforcement instruments, media backpacks, alarms and laser projection, will be given a maximum of 15 million yuan in subsidy.The measures also encourage 5G industry terminal enterprises to issue coupons to consumers who purchase 5G networked drones, 5G laser projection, 5G+8K TVs, 5G cameras and other products.

SZ sees more firms in emerging industries

12-16, 2020

The number of newly registered companies in Shenzhen in strategic emerging fields witnessed a year-on-year growth of 11.3 percent to reach 2,683 in October this year, according to the Shenzhen Municipal Enterprise Registration Bureau.The newly registered businesses are from the city's seven strategic emerging industries, namely new-generation information technology, digital economy, high-end equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, new materials, green and low-carbon technology, and marine economy.Ma Chunhui, associate professor with the School of Media and Communication of Shenzhen University, said the rapid growth in the number of new business entities in the city's strategic emerging industries showed that Shenzhen's economic development has entered a new stage.The new stage features accelerated innovation in emerging industries, relative advantages of the high-end manufacturing sector, the backing of the capital market to drive the seven strategic emerging industries and the government’s sustained policy support, according to Ma.In October, Shenzhen recorded a total of 44,407 newly registered business entities, including 28,332 enterprises and 16,075 privately owned small businesses. By the end of October, there were some 3.51 million business entities in the city.The new enterprises are mainly located in Bao'an, Longgang, Nanshan, Futian and Longhua districts, accounting for 86 percent of the city's total newly registered companies.The newly registered business entities in October are mainly from the tertiary industries such as wholesale and retail businesses, catering and accommodation, leasing and commercial service, information transmission, software and information technology service.Since the beginning of this year, the dissolution of enterprises in Shenzhen has decreased significantly compared with last year. The city saw no mass dissolution of enterprises due to the pandemic.According to data from the city's enterprise registration bureau, 14,750 business entities were dissolved in Shenzhen in October this year, a drop of 25.1 percent and 28.6 percent on a yearly basis and a monthly basis, respectively.

4 districts rank among top 10 for investment potential

12-08, 2020

Four districts in Shenzhen, namely Longgang, Bao'an, Nanshan and Futian, have been listed among the 10 regions with the biggest investment potentials, according to a list of the Top 100 Regions for Investment in China released by Hurun Research Institute on Sunday.Pudong New Area in Shanghai, Chaoyang, Haidian and Xicheng districts in Beijing, as well as Tianhe and Huangpu districts in Guangzhou are the other regions on the top 10 list.The list chose 570 regions across the country based on the 19+2 city cluster plans that were put forward by the Central Government in its 13th Five-Year Program. The evaluation on the regions included economic strength, population, education and medical care, environment and habitat, featured culture and technology innovation.The list shows the top 100 regions are distributed across 33 cities. A total of 42 regions are in the Yangtze Delta River city cluster and 12 in the Pearl River Delta city cluster.The Pearl River Delta city cluster is one of the most economically dynamic areas in the Asia-Pacific region. Leveraging on its geographic advantage of bordering with Hong Kong and Macao and favorable conditions like compatriots who can be found in every corner of the world, the export-oriented economy in the Pearl River Delta region developed very fast. The area will be a center for science and industry innovation, service base for advanced manufacturing and modern service in the future.In addition, the Hurun Research Institute also selected the top 10 regions with great development potentials from five perspectives, which include economics, population, greenery, scientific innovation and cultural development. In the category of economic development, Nanshan, Longgang and Futian entered the top 10. In population development, Bao'an and Longgang took the first two places. In scientific innovation development, Longgang and Nanshan entered the top 10. In cultural development, Longgang and Bao'an entered the top 10.