Source: CCTV.com

12-09-2008 11:22

No mention of China's reform and opening-up would be complete without the Shenzhen's "Special Economic Zone". That's where pioneering policies got a test trial before being launched across the country.

Shekou village in 1983(Photo: sznews.com)

It's a typical Saturday afternoon at Futian Port in Shenzhen, with crowds of people arriving from Hong Kong. For many of these people, commuting between the two cities is a part of their daily lives.

Wang Zhuofeng is one of them. He is local to Shenzhen, but works in Hong Kong. And he heads for home on the mainland every weekend. A sea of water may lie between home and work. But for him, there's little difference between the two.

Shekou in 2007(Photo: sznews.com)

Wang Zhuofeng, Analyst of Supply Chain MGT. of Esquel Enterprise Ltd. said "Just 10 years ago, Hong Kong and Shenzhen were very different, in terms of the environment and facilities. But the gap is narrowing. You can see lots of Hong Kong people traveling to Shenzhen. And lots of Shenzhen people work in Hong Kong. So there's lots of movement back and forth."

For this young man, it is unthinkable that just 30 years ago, thousands of people were desperate to flee poverty in Shenzhen for a better life in Hong Kong.

At that time, Shenzhen was just a tiny fishing village in southern Guangdong Province. Perched on Shenzhen's relatively gloomy coastline, people could stare in envy at the blaze of lights in Hong Kong on the opposite shore.

Melinda Liu, Beijing Bureau Chief of Newsweek said "Well it left me much an impression because nothing was there, if you go to Shenzhen now, of course it's amazing. But in those days, it was just a very sleepy fishing village. Some construction going on, but very few people, very little sign of what it could become."

But things started to change when Shenzhen was picked as China's first export-oriented "Special Economic Zone".