Shenzhen is the symbol of transformation reforms launched by China 40 years ago: a collection of ancient fishing villages turned into a global manufacturing center.
Today, Shenzhen is at the heart of a new policy that aims to turn China into a high-tech powerhouse to erase the reputation of simply being an badembly line for foreign companies – or, even worse, an imitator.
Housing companies and modern skyscraper startups dominate the city of 13 million people – Wu Yebin, 35, who runs his own technology company is among the various ambitious executives who go there.
] Have you stopped thinking about how this works?
The story of Wu reflects that of many other people who, in the past, like him, had a modest background after the reforms led by the supreme leader Deng Xiaoping. The Communist Party ratified the amendments on December 18, 1978.
The son of the farmer Wu arrived in town in 2005 and, over the years, has introduced similar devices to the iPad or Apple's MacBook. With that, he had joined the Shenzhen army that was manufacturing the "Shanzhai", that is to say, creative copies of foreign electronics accessible to the local population.
Germany, United States, Japan, South Korea. All developed countries have done so to develop their manufacturing industry. While this business model was "very popular, today it is not feasible," he said. Wu Yebin of MeegoPad
Wu now runs his own electronics company, MeegoPad, which produces $ 28 million a year and manufactures products as a miniature PC.
We are now very attached to intellectual property and patents
[1965]. Wu Yebin
Made in China in 2025
Shenzhen was living fishing and rice paddies until it became a testing ground for the Deng reforms by being designated the country's first special economic zone in 1980.
Turned a huge production center, with factories badembling handsets, computers and phones for foreign companies, which today include Apple and Samsung.
Headquarters of Foxconn, producer of Apple iPhones in Shenzhen
<img src = "https://conteudo.imguol.com.br/c/noticias/de/2018/09/07/foxconn -em-shenzhen-1536341953657_615x300.jpg "data-src =" https://conteudo.imguol.com.br/c/noticias/de/2018/09/07/foxconn-em-shenzhen-1536341953657_615x300.jpg "clbad = "pinit-img" alt = "Photo by Kin Cheung / AP
19659002] Today, Chinese multinational companies, such as the telecommunications company Huawei and the Internet giant Tencent, have established their headquarters in Shenzhen The city is nicknamed "Silicon Valley of the material."
The metropolis is now trying to reinvent itself as a hotbed of Chinese innovation, aligning with the Made in plan. China 2025 Beijing to dominate the main high-tech industries such as robotics, electric vehicles and artificial intelligence. "China is becoming ir a world leader in this field, "said Wu Wu.
Shenzhen is becoming a meeting place for creative engineers from all over the world
Frenchman Meng Jie left the Silicon Valley Valley in California in 2017 to create Maybe, a company that makes smart speakers that help people learn Mandarin.
Silicon Valley is still ahead of the artificial intelligence. But in Shenzhen, you can find three times faster the electronic or mechanical component you need in Shenzhen
Meng Jie
"People see in Silicon Valley the Mecca of "They underestimate Shenzhen a lot because they do not know what's going on here," he said, highlighting the skyscrapers outside his office. "This place was only sand and water 20 years ago.In 10 years, Shenzhen will be a very important global city.It will be the capital of innovation."
Fears of the United States
Some of China's high-tech ambitions raise suspicions about their intentions abroad, with the United States and others fearing that it will not be safe for them. they pose security and espionage risks.
Those who witnessed the rise of Shenzhen are amazed by its evolution, from a mere imitator to a high-level creator. technology.
The Chinese government lays out clear plans for innovation in specific sectors in which they wish to invest.
Duncan Turner Director of HAX, a startups incubator based in the city. "Turner, who moved to Shenzhen in 2009, points out that the biggest change that he has observed over the last decade is the way in which the young people who manufactured counterfeit products have "become experts".
Turner, who moved to Shenzhen in 2009, in research and development, which paves the way for technology in some areas. "
