Shenzhen at 45: From the "One-Meter Cabinets" in Huaqiangbei to the Global "Intelligent Manufacturing Promoter"
On August 26, 2025, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone celebrated its 45th anniversary since its establishment.
Many people's impression of Shenzhen begins with Huaqiangbei, known as "China's No. 1 Street for Electronics." In the Huaqiangbei Electronics World, the counters are densely packed one by one. These counters are about one meter long, with a glass display cabinet above and a storage drawer below. At the peak, the daily cash flow of a single counter could reach millions of yuan. A widely cited statistic shows that more than 50 billionaires were born from the "one - meter counters" in Huaqiangbei.
The startup stories of star enterprises such as Tencent and DJI were once related to this small area. The business logic here is straightforward and effective. By leveraging the information gap and the "front - store, back - factory" model, electronic components, mobile phones, and computer accessories are quickly assembled and then rapidly shipped around the world.
For a long time, Huaqiangbei was one of the symbols of Shenzhen's efficiency. However, in recent years, there have been many discussions about Shenzhen "slowing down." A common view is that after Huawei, Tencent, and DJI, it is difficult for the city to produce new giant enterprises. The grassroots innovation vitality represented by the "one - meter counters" is fading, and a new innovation engine has not yet taken shape clearly. Meanwhile, new first - tier cities like Hangzhou and Hefei are making strong progress in emerging industries.
Thus, a new question arises: When the dividends of the "one - meter counters" are gone, where is Shenzhen's next stop?
In response, a group of emerging enterprises are gradually providing their answers through exploration. For example, in factories, humanoid robots from Shenzhen Ubtech Robotics Corp., Ltd. (09880.HK, hereinafter referred to as "Ubtech") and Zhipingfang (Shenzhen) Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhipingfang") are beginning to experimentally replace humans in performing handling and sorting tasks on the production line; in cars, Shenzhen Ouye Semiconductor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Ouye Semiconductor") is developing system - level main control chips for the next - generation automotive electronic and electrical architecture; in computers, the goal of Shenzhen Shenyuan Artificial Intelligence Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Shenyuan AI") is to enable users to generate a group of AI agents capable of collaborative work with a single natural language command.
In addition, as a technology company with core businesses in automotive comprehensive diagnosis, digital energy, and AI robots, Shenzhen Autel Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (688208.SH, hereinafter referred to as "Autel"), which has been rooted in Nanshan, Shenzhen for many years, has built factories in China, Vietnam, and the United States, and a factory in Mexico is also in preparation to cope with changes in the global supply chain. Shenzhen Kucai Holdings Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kucai Intelligence"), a provider of smartphone solutions, has chosen to help overseas local brands manufacture their own - branded mobile phones, becoming an "invisible promoter" in the global mobile phone market.
Of course, behind all this, there are also hardware innovation infrastructure service providers like Shenzhen JLC Technology Group Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "JLC"), which provides a one - stop platform for all hardware startups, from PCB prototyping, component procurement to PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly), significantly reducing the threshold for innovation.
The business logic of these companies is completely different from that of the former "one - meter counters."
This also means that what these enterprises are doing, how they are doing it, and what they are thinking about constitute the specific content of Shenzhen's answer to the question of "where to go next." They jointly point to the fact that Shenzhen's growth logic has changed.
From an idea to a product
In Shenzhen, innovation is often not a process of "thinking it out" but a process of "making it happen": The fastest way to determine whether an idea is viable is not to write a business plan but to turn it into a tangible entity that can be held in hand.
Whether all the elements required for this process, including upstream components and structural parts, mid - stream complete machine assembly, and professional talents to achieve all these, can be "assembled" in the shortest time and at a controllable cost determines the fate of the idea. This is also the core advantage that Shenzhen has accumulated over the past few decades of development. According to official data, as of 2024, the number of national high - tech enterprises in Shenzhen has exceeded 25,000, and the R & D investment of the whole society has been continuously increasing.
Behind these figures is a highly dense and efficiently collaborative industrial network. Taking the booming humanoid robot industry since 2025 as an example, data shows that in 2024, the robot industry in Shenzhen had gathered more than 74,000 related enterprises, with a total output value of over 200 billion yuan. These enterprises and resources are highly concentrated geographically. For example, in Nanshan District, there is a "Robot Valley" about 10 kilometers long.
The R & D team of Ubtech has a direct experience of the value of this ecosystem. In 2025, they released the new - generation industrial humanoid robot Walker S2. It only took 9 months from collecting feedback during the factory training of the previous product Walker S1 to the official launch of the development project of Walker S2 and its final release.
This iteration speed is quite rare globally. Jiao Jichao, the vice - president of Ubtech and the executive dean of its research institute, attributed this to Shenzhen's unique industrial environment when interviewed by reporters. "The humanoid robot is a very complex system, involving the processing and manufacturing of a series of materials such as structures, electronics, and sensors," Jiao Jichao said. "In the Greater Bay Area, especially in Shenzhen, a lot of resources have been accumulated."
He described this efficiency with a detail: "We put forward a requirement in the morning, and a component might be processed in the afternoon, which ensures our rapid verification."
Jiao Jichao believes that time is crucial for a company like Ubtech because they need to compete with the world's top competitors such as Tesla and Figure. "Our own technology iteration and R & D, combined with the rapid response of suppliers, have created a very good foundation and conditions for our rapid product iteration and future global competition," he said.
What can be quickly "assembled" is not only components but also talents. The humanoid robot industry requires various types of talents in artificial intelligence, ontology, software - hardware integration, and structures. Jiao Jichao said that professionals in these different fields can be found within the scope of Shenzhen's "Robot Valley." And this high - level concentration of talents is a prerequisite for systematic innovation.
If the "Robot Valley" represents Shenzhen's cluster advantage in emerging industries, then Huaqiangbei represents the city's deeper electronic industry genes that have been integrated into its capillaries.
In this regard, Chen Kaifeng, the chairman and general manager of Kucai Intelligence, put it quite directly: "To manufacture electronic products, you have to come to Shenzhen even for mold - making." Kucai Intelligence is a provider of smartphone solutions, mainly providing full - process services from product definition, design to manufacturing for overseas local brands and operators. This model requires it to have extremely strong rapid response and flexible manufacturing capabilities to meet the differentiated needs of different countries and customers.
Chen Kaifeng also said that Shenzhen has gathered the world's densest suppliers of electronic components, mold - making manufacturers, and testing institutions. This enables Kucai Intelligence to develop new products without looking for resources across regions, significantly shortening the R & D cycle. This also directly determines the feasibility of its business model and gives Kucai Intelligence the business advantage of handling small - batch customized orders.
This is difficult to achieve under the traditional large - scale manufacturing model, but it is exactly what Shenzhen's industrial ecosystem is good at. Relying on a highly flexible supply chain, Kucai Intelligence can quickly change production lines to accurately adapt to the characteristics of multiple models, small batches, and complex demands in the overseas market.
Currently, in Huaqiangbei, this ecosystem is also evolving. As the No. 1 electronics street in the country, the logic of Huaqiangbei has changed from the simple "front - store, back - factory" and price - competition model in the past to a model that emphasizes design and service.
During multiple on - site interviews in Huaqiangbei, reporters noticed that the role of some merchants in Huaqiangbei has changed from resellers to being more like product managers. Their core work is to capture on - site market demands and then use the convenience of the "one - kilometer full - industrial - chain innovation ecosystem" in Huaqiangbei to quickly find solution companies that can meet these demands and turn ideas into products.
However, for more startups and small - and - medium - sized teams, even in Shenzhen's well - equipped industrial environment, there are still thresholds to turn an idea into a product. For example, how to find a reliable PCB factory for prototyping? How to purchase a small quantity of diverse components? How to conduct small - batch 3D printing verification?
In this regard, companies like JLC are trying to further platformize and toolize Shenzhen's industrial capabilities.
As an industrial infrastructure service provider, JLC's business covers most of the links required for hardware innovation, from industrial software such as EDA (Electronic Design Automation) and CAM (Computer - Aided Manufacturing) to PCB (Printed Circuit Board) manufacturing, component procurement, PCBA, 3D printing, and CNC (Computer Numerical Control) processing. Its model is simple: users upload design drawings online, select processes, and can get quotes and place orders, and receive the physical products a few days later.
To ensure the quality and efficiency of delivery, JLC has chosen a more "asset - heavy" path.
While many enterprises in the industry choose the asset - light "collaborative outsourcing" model, JLC has always adhered to "self - built and self - produced." Its recently put - into - operation factory is to solve the production capacity problem of high - multi - layer PCBs. According to JLC, this factory uses high - cost but more reliable equipment and technical solutions in key processes such as pressing, exposure, and electroplating.
Behind this model is an understanding of the pain points of hardware innovation: For products in the process of R & D and iteration, a difference in delivery cycle of a week or even a few days, and a failed prototyping, may directly affect the progress of the entire project.
From Ubtech's rapid iteration, to Kucai Intelligence's flexible manufacturing, and then to JLC's platform - based services, they jointly point to a fact - in Shenzhen, the link from turning an idea into a tangible product is becoming more unobstructed and efficient than ever before.
When "assembling elements" is no longer a problem, choosing what to do becomes the new key.
Do it "right" first, then do it "big"
When turning an idea into a product is no longer the main obstacle, a new choice faces the new - generation entrepreneurs in Shenzhen: Should they chase the most fashionable concepts or solve the most real problems at present?
For example, in the fields of artificial intelligence and robots, the popularity of concepts far exceeds the speed of commercialization. However, from the on - site interviews of reporters, Shenzhen enterprises generally choose the latter.
Zhipingfang is a company that develops situated intelligent robots. Mo Lei, the vice - president and strategic director of Zhipingfang, made a straightforward judgment on the industry situation when interviewed by reporters. He believes that the core driving force of situated intelligence is the large - scale model, but currently, the ability of this "brain" is "at most at the level of a high - school student" and is far from being "ready to use out of the box." Therefore, Zhipingfang's choice is not to touch scenarios such as home services that require complex interaction with people for the time being, but to start from the "semi - structured" industrial scenarios.
"Robots in industrial scenarios don't need to interact with people. They just need to work hard," Mo Lei said.
This choice is what he calls looking for "scenarios that are within reach with a jump." This means not showing "showy" functions that have little commercial value, and not doing simple things that are unhelpful for the future for short - term revenue. "Just like mobile phones and cars, they were not perfect at the beginning, but if you don't use them, you'll never be able to iterate. And you must iterate in real scenarios, not just work hard in the laboratory," he said.
Ubtech, as one of the pioneers in the field of humanoid robots, also follows this logic in its choice.
Jiao Jichao, the vice - president of Ubtech and the executive dean of its research institute, said that they clearly determined early on that the first scenario for the humanoid robot to be implemented is in the industry. After visiting and researching more than 20 domestic automobile factories and more than a dozen other industrial customers, they finally locked in the first implementation scenarios as "handling and sorting" tasks.
This is also a choice based on reality. "On the one hand, there is a large shortage of labor for such jobs in factories, and the work content is cumbersome and boring, so many young people are reluctant to do it," Jiao Jichao said. "On the other hand, the task execution steps of this job can be met by the current technology of humanoid robots, and there is no strict time limit like on the assembly line."
First, use technology to solve a real and solvable problem - this is a common characteristic of the new - generation Shenzhen enterprises. On this basis, when the "right thing" is done solidly, how to do "big things," that is, how to enter the global market, they also provide a new set of answers.
Autel is a company that adheres to the "comprehensive AI" strategy, with core businesses in automotive comprehensive diagnosis, digital energy, and AI robots. Li Hongjing, the chairman of Autel, said in an interview with reporters that Autel is a "born - global" enterprise, and its first order came from the United States.
This global gene has evolved into a layout more suitable for the current environment. To cope with the changes in the global supply chain, Autel has established three production bases in Shenzhen, China, Haiphong, Vietnam, and North Carolina, the United States, and plans to set up a factory in Mexico. This multi - point layout aims to enhance regional synergy, reduce geopolitical risks, and get closer to the end - market, rather than simply selling products from one place to another.
Kucai Intelligence provides another idea for globalization. As a provider of smartphone solutions, it does not pursue creating a globally well - known self - owned brand but chooses to be an "invisible promoter" for overseas local brands.
"The world needs a capable Chinese partner in R & D and the supply chain," said Chen Kaifeng, the chairman and general manager of Kucai Intelligence. His logic is that by leveraging Shenzhen's strong R & D and supply chain capabilities, it helps overseas local customers who have channels and brands but lack engineering capabilities to manufacture their own - branded mobile phones. This is an enabling and symbiotic globalization, rather than a conquering one.
Similarly, in the field of automotive chips with extremely high technical barriers, the strategic choice of Ouye Semiconductor also reflects this idea of first "finding solutions" and then aiming for the long - term.
According to Gao Feng, the co - founder and CEO of O，uye Semiconductor, there are three clear "do's and don'ts" in its technical route, market selection, and product definition: In the technical route, with intelligence as the main line and AI computing and communication as the concentric circles for expansion, it focuses on products that improve user experience and does not touch homogeneous chips that only compete on cost; in market selection, it covers a large number of vehicle models and does not blindly pursue high - computing - power chips only for high - end cars, with a simple reason - "Models below 300,000 yuan account for 90% of the more than 20 million domestic automobile shipments throughout the year"; in product definition, all chip definitions must conform to the trend of automotive intelligence evolution in the next 10 to 20 years, and it does not produce short - term products that do not conform to the medium - and - long - term trend.
First, find the "right" position in the broadest market, and then make a "big" layout with a long - term vision. This has become the common choice of the new - generation Shenzhen enterprises.
Enter the physical world from the digital world
In the current venture - capital environment, a good story and a logically self - consistent road - show PPT sometimes attract more capital than a rough product prototype. However, in Shenzhen, especially among the emerging enterprises contacted by reporters from the Economic Observer, there is an interesting phenomenon: They prefer to talk about products, technologies, and factories rather than grand narratives.
Behind this is a collective shift in Shenzhen's industrial direction and enterprise management thinking: Shenzhen's next stop is manifested as an entry from the digital world to the physical world. Or rather, it is no longer simply about online model