AS a leading city in technological development, Shenzhen is committed to fostering the best ecosystems for innovation, talent, and business development, as announced during a press conference held by the Shenzhen Municipal Government Information Office Feb. 23.

In 2024, the city, an ideal testing ground for new technologies, launched 200 application scenarios for urban management and AI and organized over 400 exhibitions and fairs, benefiting nearly 70,000 enterprises.

Shenzhen will further assist enterprises in matching with diverse application scenarios, such as urban cleaning, emergency rescue, and the use of large language models in medicine. The city also encourages manufacturers to adopt AI and robotics in various production scenarios, including research and development, quality testing, assembly, and material handling.

These efforts aim to accelerate the transformation of new technologies into high-quality products that can be widely adopted in households.

Shenzhen plans to launch more than 100 application scenarios across different fields by 2025. This will help enterprises efficiently research and develop products, improve technologies, and validate product performance.

Shenzhen continues to open itself to global resources. Fortune 500 companies such as Apple, Intel, Amazon, and Siemens have established research centers in Shenzhen, while Shenzhen-based enterprises have set up more than 100 research centers abroad.

In recent years, six international organizations, including the World WLAN Application Alliance and the International SparkLink Wireless Short-Range Communication Alliance, have been established in Shenzhen.

The city will encourage international cooperation projects, whiich will receive a maximum of 30 million yuan in financial support.

To attract talent, Shenzhen will extend the free lodging period for job-seeking graduates from seven days to 15, as per the conference.

Data show that in 2023, Shenzhen’s expenditure on R&D surpassed 223 billion yuan (US$30.8 billion), a year-on-year increase of 18.9%. This accounted for 6.46% of the city’s GDP, with both the total amount and intensity of R&D investment ranking second among Chinese cities. Notably, corporate R&D investment constituted 93.3% of the total expenditure.

In 2024, the number of national high-tech enterprises in Shenzhen surpassed 25,000, while the number of national-level specialized and sophisticated small and medium-sized enterprises reached 1,025.

The city is home to 7 million professionals across various fields, including over 26,200 high-level talent, 220,000 overseas returnees, and 4.06 million skilled workers.