By the end of June 2002, the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal People's Congress had formulated 191 laws and regulations (including 56 that have been revised or abolished). Of these, 185 were specially created for the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. One-third were newly formulated and filled gaps in national legislation, one-third were laws revised and improved to better suit the practical needs of the SEZ's development, and the remaining one-third were created specifically to enhance administration, improve the legal system and meet demands in environmental protection, city planning and cultural and ethical progress.

    However, like any reforms, the process of change in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone has been full of ups and downs. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, the dramatic changes in world politics and the global economic situation aroused discussion in China about whether the reform and opening-up process was socialist or capitalist. At the critical moment, Deng Xiaoping, chief designer of China's reform and opening-up policy, again affirmed the achievements and explorations of the special economic zone. When Deng inspected Shenzhen for the second time in 1992, he confirmed the socialist nature of the zone and Shenzhen's audacity in blazing a trail.

    Deng's two inspections of Shenzhen not only greatly inspired Chinese people who supported his policy, but also directly propelled the course of reform and opening-up, generating a "Shenzhen fever." The accomplishments and experience of Shenzhen were widely covered in the media. People from China and abroad visited in an endless stream, and millions swarmed to the city to carve out careers.

Pioneering Upgrading

The BYD Auto's exhibits at the 9th Hi-tech Fair in Shenzhen.

    When former Chinese president Jiang Zemin inspected Shenzhen in 1994, he encouraged the city to "enhance its innovative advantage and strive for further improvement." Thus, Shenzhen initiated its "second pioneering period" in 1995.

    With economic reform and opening-up rolled out across the entire country, Shenzhen's formerly "special" policy prevailed throughout China. Shenzhen decided to implement "three fundamental changes" – from a planned economy to a socialist market economy, from an extensive to an intensive growth mode, and from reliance on special policy support to reliance on heightened inner strength and innovation advantages.

    In 2000, the city set a goal of "building innovation advantages to achieve modernization," striving to maintain its superiority in creativity, opening-up, industrial upgrading and legal construction, and build Shenzhen into a model of socialism with Chinese characteristics. Meanwhile, its reforms went deeper as regards the systems of ownership, state-owned assets management, pricing, market construction, administrative approval, social security and anti-corruption.

    Through industrial adjustment, three pillar industries of high technology, modern logistics and finance took shape, and they sustained Shenzhen's continued annual economic growth of around 20 percent. Large numbers of hi-tech enterprises like Huawei, ZTE and BYD successfully won international recognition.

    In order to further the transformation of scientific and technological achievements into practical productive forces, Shenzhen held the first China Hi-tech Fair in 1999. After ten years of development, the fair has become the city's business card, establishing Shenzhen as the leader of hi-tech industries in China, drawing business adventurers from all over the country.