In the 1980s, with its construction speed of completing "one floor of a building in three days" and the average annual economic growth rate of 45 percent, Shenzhen had earned the good name of "Shenzhen Speed". In recent years, a group of high and new technological industries have sprung up rapidly in Shenzhen, this again has won it praises from various social circles.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, the output value of the city's high and new technological products has increased at an average annual rate of 61.46 percent. In 1998, Shenzhen's total industrial output value reached 184.8 billion yuan, ranking fifth among the country's large and medium-sized cities. Of the total, the output value of high and new technological products was 65.5 billion yuan, accounting for 35.4 percent of total industrial output value; while in 1991, the output value of the city's high and new technological products was only 2.29 billion yuan representing 8.1 percent of the total output value of industry.

As early as in the late 1980s, many Shenzhen people had been keenly aware that knowledge-intensive high and new technological industries would certainly become the leading industry in the development of the times. Developing high and new technological industries is a challenge, it is all the more a final opportunity of this century.

In the opinion of leaders of the Shenzhen city Party committee and city government, development of high and new technological industries is a best pitching-in and breakthrough in Shenzhen's endeavor to create new superiority. It was under the guidance of this train of thought that the city made a series of decisions on accelerating the development of these industries.

After 10 years of development and accumulations and since the beginning of the 1990s, Shenzhen has built itself into an international city of preliminary modernization, which has easy access to information, convenient communication, a galaxy of talents, abundant funds and a beautiful living environment.

After the most recent 20 years of reform and opening up, Shenzhen has currently placed itself in the ranks of those Chinese cities with the mightiest comprehensive economic strength, the only Chinese city complete with sea, land and air ports. It has won such titles as the country's "Sci-Tech Advanced City", "National Environmental Protection Model City", "National Outstanding Tourist City" and the country's "Afforestation Advanced City". Shenzhen has become one of the cities where talents at home and from overseas like to live and work.

Shenzhen has had the advantage of resources of talents coming in a continuous stream and has set up relatively perfect senior managers market, scientific and technological personnel market and mechanisms of interest stimulating the enthusiasm and creativity of talents. The Shenzhen city government has always given green light to the recruitment of talents.

Division of labor on the basis of specialization is a distinguishing characteristic of high and new technological industries. Shenzhen has a good industrial supporting environment. Take computer for example. The city has more than 1,500 relevant factories producing almost all computer parts and components, their annual production capacity is about 20 million units. Shenzhen's industry supporting superiority has become an important factor for attracting transnational corporations to invest in the city.

Shenzhen has good financial conditions, the balance of the Renminbi deposits and loans of domestic financial institutions and the balance of foreign exchange deposits and loans both stand in the front ranks of the nation's large and medium-sized cities, its call loan market, insurance market, securities market and foreign exchange market are developed.

Shenzhen was the first to set up an intangible asset evaluation office in the country, formulated regulations on the protection of intellectual property rights, the technological achievements gained by high-tech personnel can be effectively protected and respected.

In addition, as it enjoys the geographical advantage of being the neighbor of Hong Kong, Shenzhen can develop its high and new technological industries with the aid of Hong Kong's capital market, information market and its status as the international trade center.

In an effort to adapt to the development and change of high and new technological industries and the challenge of the market, Shenzhen has decided: All fields of work should make way for the development of high and new technological industries, all major problems arising in the process of the development of these industries can be placed on the agenda of the decision-making body of the city Party committee and city government and can be resolved accordingly.

Shenzhen has formulated a series of supportive policies in regard to planning and investment guidance, promptly guided the development of industry, cultivated high and new technological industries' initiative and adaptability; reformed and simplified the government examination and approval system.

In view of the fact that Shenzhen has relatively less scientific research institutes and institutions of higher learning and that local resources of science and technology are relatively scarce, the city has established a technological development system which takes the market as the guidance, enterprise as the mainstay, inland colleges and universities and scientific research institutes as the base, and foreign R&D institutions as supplement. Shenzhen's enterprises have established good scientific and technological cooperative relations with more than 200 domestic universities, and several hundred research institutes.

Shenzhen has strengthened the status of enterprise as the mainstay in technological development, its policy regarding the allocation of resources and the introduction of talents is tilted toward enterprises. At present, of the 521 R&D institutions in Shenzhen, 477, or 91.7 percent, were set up by enterprises, 90 percent of the city's R&D personnel are concentrated in enterprises. High and new technological enterprises have become the investment mainstays, in 1997, 81.86 percent of the city's R&D funds came from enterprises, a year later, 129 high and new technological enterprises put in a total of 1.868 billion yuan of R&D funds, accounting for 90 percent of the city's total R&D input; in the same year, the city received 2093 patent applications, the majority of which came from enterprises, making Shenzhen the country's first city with the most enterprise patents. In early 1990, Shenzhen had begun making theoretical and practical explorations of the value of knowledge. Beginning in 1995, the system of buying shares with technology was vigorously implemented in high and new technological enterprises and civilian-run science and technology enterprises, the system under which enterprises are operated by scientific and technological personnel as shareholders, and the technological development reward system.

In Shenzhen, the development of high and new technological industries has brought about not only economic leap, but also, more importantly, chain reaction of subtle and far-reaching influence on the city's social life, culture and education, urban construction, enterprise management and traditional industries.

The rise of high and new technological enterprises in Shenzhen has attracted global well-known high and new technological firms to come to seek cooperative partners and settle down in Shenzhen. Of the world's top 500 transnational corporations, 50, including IBM, Compaq, Hewolette-Pockard, Sanyo, Xerox and Philip, have invested in setting up high and new technological enterprises. The establishment of these enterprises has promoted Shenzhen's export-oriented economic development, has trained personnel for Shenzhen, brought information and accelerated the process in which Shenzhen advances to the world market and becomes an international city.

The development of high and new technological industries has notably improved Shenzhen people's scientific and technological as well as cultural qualities. In Shenzhen, learning English and computer has become a common social practice.

The pressure formed as a result of the development of high and new technology has compelled people to consciously pursue new knowledge and learn new skill. The per-capita expense spent by Shenzhen people on buying books has ranked first in the country for nine straight years.