District government spares no effort to renew urban plan for thriving city

Looking down from Shenzhen's Lianhua hill, one can see the city's central axis as it runs through the delicately designed cultural center, government buildings, the cluster of office skyscrapers and the city's conference and exhibition center.

The mountains of Hong Kong, separated from Shenzhen by a river, can be seen in the distance.

The central area of Shenzhen is in the district of Futian, which literally means happy land in Chinese.

Taking up an area of roughly 79 square kilometers, or 4 percent of Shenzhen's total land area, the district contributed nearly one-fifth of the city's GDP and one-fourth of its tax revenue, government statistics showed.

The per capita GDP surpassed $50,000 in 2021 and the GDP produced per sq km hit 676 million yuan ($92.4 million) that year, outperforming Singapore and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Based on the city's five-year plan (2021-25), Futian has been positioned as the hub of administration, culture, finance, commerce and international exchanges.

To increase its global influence while keeping its charm as a cozy place for working and living, the district government has spared no effort to renew its urban planning, attract talents from home and abroad and improve the business and ecological environment.

New financial center

The Xiangmihu area of Futian — about 4 km west from the central axis — will have a world-level venture capital accumulation zone in accordance with the latest government document announced in June. It also raised the curtain for a new financial center in the district.

The zone, the first of its kind in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, will draw on the experience of Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley, California, notable for its concentration of VC companies.

The government document said the zone will focus on fostering and introducing well-known VC companies oriented in serving scientific and technological innovations and real industries, and improve the market system and mechanism for connecting Hong Kong, Macao SARs and the world.

Famed family wealth offices, VC companies from Europe and the United States and sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East, were listed in the document.

It aims to have no less than 10 private VC institutions ranking among the top 100 in the domestic industry and no less than 50 institutions that are registered to carry out pilot fund programs such QFLP (qualified foreign limited partner) and QDIE(qualified domestic investment enterprise) in the VC zone by 2025.

All the VC companies and institutions will help to leverage social funds to support the development of the city's 20 strategic emerging industries and eight future industries, the government document said.

Futian is traditionally competitive in the financial services industry in Shenzhen.

The added value of the financial industry in Futian reached 229.4 billion yuan in 2021, almost three times the level in 2012, representing an average annual growth of 8.3 percent, government figures showed.

About 70 percent of the city's licensed financial institutions, more than half of the VC institutions and 30 percent of the private equity funds, were registered in Futian.

The district also houses the headquarters or subsidiaries of more than 200 Fortune Global 500 companies, including four that were locally developed in the area.

The local government has mapped out a cluster of public facilities to serve the new financial hub in Xiangmihu, including a world exchange center, a financial and cultural center and a world art center.

Talent attraction

Apart from the flourishing industries, the district of Futian is attracting talent with its people-oriented urban planning.

It has the most sophisticated metro network in the city, with 10 metro lines running through the district with a total length of 108 km.

It has the city's most intensive commercial facilities. Government figures showed that the district has gathered 16 commercial complexes with a floor area of more than 50,000 square meters each and six five-star luxury hotels.

As the city's No 1 district in terms of total retail sales of consumer goods for 17 consecutive years, Futian will add a feather to its cap when the first outlet of Galeries Lafayette — a leading French department store — is set up in South China by the end of this year.

The district also has the most intensive array of parks. There are 135 parks in Futian, which means residents in the district would walk no more than 500 meters before reaching a park.

The country's only national-level nature reserve in downtown is also located inside Futian, which hosts more than 100,000 migratory birds each year.

"Futian is a happy land for living and working, it's also a place for people to pursue a better life and realize their dreams," Zhou Jiangtao, chief of the district government said in a radio show on Thursday.

The district government updated its talent policies in September 2021, in which it offered a basket of incentive policies, including subsidies, accommodation and support to families to attract talent inside and outside the country.

The city's Talent Day fell on Nov 1.Futian planned a series of activities, including seminars, road shows, industrial tours and concerts, to attract talent and promote exchanges.