Guangdong - Shenzhen Free Trade Zone

Shenzhen Free Trade Zone (including Shenzhen Yantian Port Free Trade Zone, Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zone, Shenzhen Shatoujiao Free Trade Zone and Shenzhen Yantian Port Bonded Logistic Park) 

Facts and Figures (2007)

Source: Administration Committee of Shenzhen Free Trade Zone 

Introduction

The Shenzhen Free Trade Zone (Shenzhen FTZ) consists of four state-level development zones, namely Shenzhen Yantian Port Free Trade Zone (Shenzhen Yantian Port FTZ), Shenzhen Futian Free Trade Zone (Shenzhen Futian FTZ), Shenzhen Shatoujiao Free Trade Zone (Shenzhen Shatoujiao FTZ) and Shenzhen Yantian Port Bonded Logistic Park (Shenzhen Yantian Port BLG). 

All four of the free trade zones are located in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, which is endowed with special economic policies and flexible government measures. Shenzhen Shatoujiao FTZ, lying in Shatoujiao Port and 1 km away from Yantian Port, was set up in 1987, and is the oldest free trade zone in Guangdong Province. Shenzhen Futian FTZ, approved in 1991, is located next to Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway and is connected with Hong Kong via Lok Ma Chau Bridge. Shenzhen Yantian Port FTZ and Shenzhen Yantian Port BLG, both located in Yantian Port, were approved to be state-level development zones by the State Council in 1996 and 2004 respectively.

Shenzhen FTZ enjoys convenient transportation conditions. Shatoujiao Port and Yantian Port are two important ports, though not to the degree that Shenzhen Port is; Shenzhen Port was considered the fourth-largest port in the world in terms of container throughput in 2007. Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport, offering one-hundred and forty-five domestic routes and eleven international routes weekly, ranked fourth in terms of cargo traffic and fifth in terms of passenger traffic in China in 2007. It takes only one hour of traveling time from the zone to the airport. Shenzhen is the intersection point of Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and Beijing-Kowloon Railway, and the start point for Shenzhen-Shantou Expressway and Guangzhou-Shenzhen Expressway.

Investment Climate

Shenzhen is the largest foreign-trade base in Guangdong Province. The foreign trade value in Shenzhen edged up 21.1% year-on-year to US$287.5 billion in 2007, comprising 45.3% of Guangdong's total. The export value in Shenzhen rose 23.8% year-on-year to US$168.5 billion, accounting for 13.8% of China's total. Shenzhen has maintained the leading position as the largest exporter among all the cities on mainland China for fifteen years.

The foreign trade value in Shenzhen FTZ amounted to US$ 47.2 billion in 2007, accounting for 36.8% of the combined foreign-trade value of the fifteen state-level free trade zones in China. The export value in Shenzhen FTZ exceeded US$27.7 billion; that is, nearly one half of the total export value of the fifteen free trade zones on the mainland.

Shenzhen FTZ focuses on the development of warehousing, logistics, trade and export processing industries. In 2007, the gross industrial output from Shenzhen FTZ reached RMB 87.6 billion, comprising 27% of the combined figure of all fifteen free trade zones in China.

By the end of 2007, over fifteen-hundred enterprises from over thirty countries and regions had set up in the zone, with total foreign investment accumulating to US$3 billion by 2007, while the utilized FDI in the zone added up to US$2.3 billion. By 2007, thirty-seven Fortune 500 enterprises had invested in the zone. The major investors in the zone include Wal-Mart, IBM, Mitsui, NEC, Sony, Samsung, Hitachi, 3M, JDS Uniphase, Philips, AEON, BCS, Thomson and quite a large number of domestic firms, such as Lenovo, Shenzhen Jiahong Yongye and Wenhuai Logistics.

Lenovo Shenzhen International Information Products Corp (IIPC), set up in 1994 by IBM and China Great Wall Group, has a factory in Shenzhen Yantian FTZ, which is mainly producing Think Pad laptops and Think Cintre desktops. Shenzhen Kerry Yantian Port Co. Ltd. was set up by Kerry in 2001, with a total investment value of RMB 220 million. It covers a 43,000-m² logistics center in Shenzhen Yantian FTZ.