Once a migrant worker, today a successful businesswoman and writer, An Zi’s career has closely mirrored that of Shenzhen, a southern Chinese city that has flourished during 30 years of market reforms.
She was only a teenager on the day in 1984 when she watched her cousin return to her village from work in a Shenzhen television factory — an experience that changed her life.
“When I saw her, I noticed the way she dressed, wore make-up, her body, her way of thinking, everything had changed about her,” said An, now 41, recalling why she decided to leave her rural home in Guangdong Province.
“I was in the first group of migrant workers to participate in the opening up and reform policy and the beginning of Shenzhen,” said An as her carefully manicured hands softly combed through her stylishly cut hair.
Since arriving, An has risen to run her own business, an employment agency for domestic workers, while also becoming a successful author of self-improvement books.
DRAMATIC CHANGE
Like her, Shenzhen, which borders the former British colony of Hong Kong, has changed dramatically over the years, since it was given the status of a special economic zone in 1980.
“When Shenzhen was established, there were only a little over 30,000 people here living on two or three small roads, this was a small impoverished border village,” Mayor Xu Zongheng (許宗衡) told journalists recently.
The former poor fishing village has boasted an annual economic growth rate of 26.9 percent over the past 28 years.
POPULATION
The exploding economy has also seen the population balloon to 11 million, although only 2 million are permanent residents and the rest are part of China’s huge army of migrant workers.
“We have worked hard, we have advanced, we have dared to innovate, we have had remarkable success in our economic and social development that approaches a miracle in the history of modernization, urbanization and industrialization,” Xu beamed.
With its ultra-modern skyscrapers, Shenzhen does not need to envy neighboring Hong Kong. With its parks, palm trees and wide boulevards it compares more favorably with Silicon Valley.
But even if Shenzhen was built thanks to the efforts of millions of people like An Zi, not all have succeeded like her.
MICROCOSM
Located in the Pearl River Delta, the heartland of China’s export-oriented economy, the region is a microcosm of the nation, with widespread inequalities and accents from all corners of the country.
The ongoing global economic downturn has led to factory closures and growing unemployment among the migrant workers.
Labor rights groups say the prosperity of Shenzhen and neighboring Guangdong Province has largely come from the exploitation of migrant workers, many of whom have endured sweatshop working conditions.
Near Shenzhen’s business center, in a poor part of town with run-down buildings, many in decay, a group of migrant workers played billiards to pass the time before the next job came along.
“Right now there are only small jobs. We will see after the Chinese New Year [end of January] if the situation improves,” one 53-year-old worker from a town hundreds of kilometers away said.
For the authorities, the economic crisis offers an opportunity to deepen an ongoing transformation of Shenzhen away from its traditional textile industries toward high tech companies.
“These kinds of companies, who have brands that are founded on their own property rights, sustain our development,” mayor Xu said. “I am sure that if we persevere in the restructuring and optimization of our production, we will become a model of a modern industry with strong competitiveness.”
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