Shenzhen’s choice because the host metropolis for the 2026 Asia-Pacific Financial Cooperation (APEC) summit highlights Beijing’s dedication to openness and its ambition to showcase town’s innovation-driven progress on the worldwide stage.
Saying the choice on the conclusion of the 2025 APEC summit in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, Chinese language President Xi Jinping described Shenzhen as “an vital window to China’s unwavering pursuit of a mutually helpful and win-win opening-up technique.”
Set to happen in November 2026, it’s going to mark the third time China has hosted the summit, after it was held in Shanghai in 2001 and Beijing in 2014. Xi emphasised that China will leverage this platform to advance regional cooperation in areas akin to free commerce, connectivity, the digital financial system and synthetic intelligence.
Positioned simply throughout the border from Hong Kong, Shenzhen is now house to a few of China’s largest tech giants, together with telecoms large Huawei Applied sciences, web service firm Tencent Holdings, electrical car producer BYD and drone maker DJI.
Town’s transformation from a small fishing village started in 1980 when it was designated as China’s first Particular Financial Zone below the “reform and opening up” coverage initiated by the previous chief Deng Xiaoping.
The daring experiment aimed to draw international funding, introduce market-oriented reforms, and drive financial modernization. Since then, Shenzhen rapidly grew to become a logo of China’s fast financial rise, evolving right into a hub for innovation, commerce and know-how.
Chinese language analysts notice that selecting Shenzhen demonstrates Beijing’s dedication to openness and to showcase town’s revolutionary spirit and resilience in growth to the world.
Li Chen, affiliate director and affiliate professor on the Centre for China Research, The Chinese language College of Hong Kong (CUHK), specializing in China’s political financial system, mentioned that Shenzhen’s growth historical past aligns with APEC’s concentrate on openness, free commerce and acceleration of regional financial integration, making it a super alternative.
He added that Shenzhen’s openness extends past commerce and funding to embody the creation of a enterprise atmosphere aligned with worldwide requirements.
In the meantime, analysts famous that Shenzhen — an export-driven metropolis — has borne the brunt of commerce protectionism and technological decoupling, coming below direct pressure from the U.S. commerce struggle.
Authorities information from October confirmed that Shenzhen’s whole imports and exports reached greater than 3.36 trillion yuan within the first three quarters of 2025, a modest 0.1 p.c enhance from a 12 months earlier. Exports amounted to 2.03 trillion yuan ($284.7 billion), down 4.7 p.c, whereas imports totaled 1.32 trillion yuan, up 8.4 p.c.
Town’s deeply export-driven financial system is anchored by its function as a world manufacturing powerhouse for merchandise like electronics. It persistently leads Chinese language cities in international commerce and is an important engine driving China’s export progress.
It is usually a serious hub for cross-border e-commerce, pushed by its superior good logistics, supportive authorities insurance policies and a excessive focus of e-commerce corporations and associated providers.
Main ports in Shenzhen, like Yantian, deal with a good portion of Guangdong’s container quantity, and Shenzhen Bao’an Worldwide Airport has direct worldwide cargo routes to main cities, together with Mexico, London, Paris and Hungary.
A cargo ship with containers docks at a terminal on the Yantian port in Shenzhen, China. Reuters-Yonhap.
“Amid rising anti-globalization sentiments, the selection of Shenzhen by Beijing sends a transparent message of sustaining openness, rejecting decoupling and disruption of business and provide chains,” mentioned Li Jiahao, an affiliate analysis fellow on the Guangzhou Institute of the Better Bay Space (GIG).
He added that Shenzhen is each the start line and a logo of China’s reform and opening-up coverage; subsequently, selecting it’s a declaration of China’s dedication to opening as much as the world.
“For a metropolis, growth not solely depends on the buildup of its inside strengths – akin to industrial progress and technological innovation — but additionally on key worldwide occasions that draw the world’s consideration,” mentioned Li of CUHK.
He added that the world would have the chance to achieve a deep and complete understanding of the event progress and total power of the Better Bay Space by means of APEC.
Shenzhen is one among 9 cities in Guangdong province that make up the Better Bay Space, together with the particular administrative areas of Hong Kong and Macau. Lately, Beijing has targeted on remodeling the world right into a world-class heart for financial progress and technological innovation.
Past intergovernmental or large-scale company agreements, the platform of APEC might increase sensible engagements the place small and medium-sized companies, enterprise associations and suppose tanks from varied economies can join and cooperate, based on the GIG’s Li.
“A summit in Shenzhen will strengthen China’s open and cooperative stance within the subject of innovation and promote its deeper integration into international industrial chains and innovation networks.”
Alyssa Chen is a reporter with the South China Morning Put up. She is presently primarily based in Seoul, writing for each The Korea Instances and the South China Morning Put up below an trade program.
