China yesterday announced measures that would grant its southern boomtown Shenzhen more autonomy as Beijing seeks to raise the profile of the region as a tech and financial hub amid tensions with the US.
The Chinese National Development and Reform Commission published a list of reforms for Shenzhen that includes steps for financial markets, intellectual property protection, economic legislation and talent attraction.
The supporting policies for Shenzhen are more than those given to the free-trade zone in China’s southern island province Hainan, China News Service cited former commission deputy director Peng Sen (彭森) as saying.
Photo: Reuters
The city is home to some of China’s leading technology giants, including Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (騰訊), and is a crucial part of Beijing’s plan to drive economic integration with Hong Kong and Macau into the so-called Greater Bay Area to ultimately rival Tokyo Bay or Silicon Valley.
In a speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of Shenzhen’s establishment as a special economic zone on Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said the city should also be given more autonomy for reform and strive to solve any problems from breakneck growth.
Foreign investors’ interests should be better looked after through measures including protecting intellectual rights, he said.
According to some of the key measures covered in the list, Shenzhen is to start a stock futures index and innovative companies can stage initial public offerings on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange with depository receipts.
State-owned companies in the region would be given greater autonomy to carry out market-based reforms, the commission said.
Shenzhen would build a new intellectual property rights protection system that ensures digital intellectual property protection and punishes infringements, it said.
Restrictions on foreign ownership in telecommunications would be lifted and Shenzhen would streamline visa rules to attract talent, the commission said.
The city would be allowed to issue offshore, yuan-denominated local government bonds, and designated medical institutions across nine mainland cities in the Greater Bay Area will be allowed to use drugs available in Hong Kong and Macau, it added.
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