Shenzhen's high-tech sector leads with smart glasses and semiconductors ahead of APEC summit
Shenzhen, host of the upcoming APEC summit, reported strategic emerging industry value-added of 1.67 trillion yuan last year, accounting for 43 per cent of GDP. The city's smart glasses and semiconductor technologies have reached international standards, with local firms highlighting competitive pri
Shenzhen, which is set to host the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, has been dubbed “China’s number one innovation city”, with high technology ranking as the top of its four pillar industries. According to municipal government data, the city’s strategic emerging industries added 1.67 trillion yuan (US$231 billion) in value last year, accounting for 43 per cent of Shenzhen’s gross domestic product. The number of high-tech enterprises exceeded 25,000, placing it among the top nationally.
High-tech sectors in Shenzhen cover a wide range, including new-energy vehicles, low-altitude economy aircraft, humanoid robots, semiconductor chips, AI-powered video games and smart wearables. Smart glasses, in particular, have seen strong sales growth in recent years with rapid technological advances.
Shenzhen-based Geduowei Technology develops and produces smart glasses that can monitor a user’s cervical spine health and automatically alert family members if an elderly wearer falls. Company founder Ruan Shidie said China’s smart glasses technology is among the world’s best, with products offering “very high cost performance”. Chinese-made smart glasses with the same technical specifications cost only one-third of major European and American brands.
Ruan described China’s smart glasses industry as a “late bloomer” that has thrived because of Shenzhen’s complete technology supply chain and the diligence and efficiency of mainland research staff. He expressed hope that the APEC summit, which gathers global political and business leaders, would showcase what he called “Shenzhen speed” in the technology field.
Shenzhen’s Sake Micro Electronics produces semiconductor components and integrated circuit chips. General manager Song Shiqiang said competition is intense in the electronics industry, but Shenzhen’s strong industrial ecosystem allows the company to face international competition. Its electronic components are used in various high-end products and exported overseas, with sales expected to exceed 100 million yuan (US$13.8 million) this year.
The company started about 10 years ago in Huaqiangbei, a district in Shenzhen’s Futian area known as “China’s number one electronics street”. Song said Huaqiangbei has been a cradle for Shenzhen’s and the nation’s tech start-ups, and has shed its earlier reputation for knock-off goods, with many companies now producing independently developed products.
Cheng Yimu, former executive president of the Shenzhen Electronics Chamber of Commerce, said Huaqiangbei originally was an electronics industrial zone for local and foreign companies that grew into a large supporting market for electronics equipment, now serving the entire Pearl River Delta and the country. According to Shenzhen authorities, Huaqiangbei’s business district sees an average daily foot traffic of 750,000, including about 8,000 foreign visitors. The APEC summit is expected to bring more international customers, and road signs in the area have been replaced with bilingual Chinese-English signage.