Surpassing Beijing and Shanghai, Shenzhen Tops the List as the "City with the Most Specialized and Sophisticated Enterprises"
In the summer of 1987, Ren Zhengfei, then 43 years old, founded a tiny company named "Huawei" in an abandoned factory building in Shenzhen Bay.
At that time, Shenzhen was just a gathering place for people from all over the country who were "diving into the business sea". Many people opened small factories here to undertake the production of electronic components based on outdated foreign production capacities.
However, 38 years have passed. Now, Shenzhen has 1,333 national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises, surpassing Beijing (1,210) and Shanghai (1,032) to rank first among all cities in China. This also marks that Shenzhen has officially become the -
"City of Specialized, Refined, Distinctive, and Innovative Enterprises"!
Recently, the list of the seventh batch of national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises was publicly announced. Shenzhen ranked first among all cities in China with 347 newly selected enterprises.
The development of technology is not a water without a source or a tree without roots. How did Shenzhen get its "water and wood"?
01 No Foundation, but Courage
Actually, in the 1980s, Shenzhen was still a "technological desert". It is said that there were only two scientific and technological personnel in the whole city:
One was a tractor repairman and the other was a veterinarian.
Compared with the United States, which has Harvard and MIT, and Beijing and Shanghai, which have top universities like Tsinghua, Peking, Fudan, and Jiaotong, Shenzhen had almost no university resources.
The turning point came in 1987 when Shenzhen issued "Document No. 18":
It encouraged scientific and technological personnel to establish private high - tech enterprises and clearly defined property rights.
"Document No. 18" issued by Shenzhen in 1987
This had a strong impact in China at that time. Most scientific research professors were used to teaching in universities. Even if they had any achievements, they would just submit papers to contribute to the country, and it was very difficult to commercialize them.
What about starting a business on their own? First, they were afraid that universities and their employers would not accept it. Second, they were afraid of being criticized by public opinion at that time. Third, they were afraid that their achievements would be copied quickly.
However, this "birth permit" from Shenzhen suddenly broadened the horizons and raised the hopes of many senior intellectuals.
In the first year after the policy was introduced, more than 70 private high - tech enterprises were born, including the now well - known Huawei.
It can be said that without the clear definition of property rights in "Document No. 18" and the inability of scientific and technological personnel to hold shares with their technologies, Huawei could not have been established.
In 2000, Shenzhen encountered another crucial node.
At that time, counterfeit products were prevalent in China, and most of them were just "shoddy imitations". Public opinion generally believed that China was a manufacturing powerhouse and only needed to copy foreign models.
Facing such a development bottleneck, Shenzhen decided to pursue independent innovation. It was the first to call for "building an independent innovation city" and focused on supporting the R & D funds of a number of leading high - tech enterprises.
This layout was more than a decade ahead of most cities in China, laying the foundation for enterprises like Huawei and BYD to challenge the traditional Western market structure.
The third crucial node was in 2018.
In 2018, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology launched a cultivation plan for specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises. The so - called specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises refer to outstanding small and medium - sized enterprises with characteristics of specialization, refinement, and distinctiveness.
In recent years, DeepSeek, Ubtech Robotics, and DJI drones, which have attracted public attention, are all in the ranks of "little giants".
Ubtech Robotics
Shenzhen has made huge investments in this field. After the national - level cultivation plan was officially launched in 2019, Shenzhen set its sights on the goal of developing "little giants".
When the list of the seventh batch of national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises was publicly announced in 2023, 310 enterprises in Shenzhen had passed the review. The number of newly selected enterprises ranked first among all cities in China. The cumulative number of national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises in Shenzhen reached 752, exceeding the target of 600 set for 2025 ahead of schedule.
In 2024, the cumulative number of national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises in Shenzhen reached 1,025, and the number of newly selected enterprises ranked first in China for two consecutive years.
According to the latest data, as of May 2025, Shenzhen has 11,000 specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium - sized enterprises and 21,000 innovative small and medium - sized enterprises.
From surpassing Ningbo in 2022 to achieve the "jump from fourth to third", to surpassing Shanghai in 2023 to achieve the "jump from third to second", then narrowing the gap with Beijing to 10 in 2024, and finally successfully overtaking Beijing in 2025.
How did Shenzhen manage to surpass one city each year?
02 Break Through Tradition with Market Forces
As a symbol of China's reform and opening - up, Shenzhen may not have the most scientific research universities or institutional think - tanks in China, but it is the most desirable place for scientific and technological talents and scientific research universities.
Different from Silicon Valley, Beijing, and Shanghai, which rely on the technology transfer from universities, the innovation of enterprises in Shenzhen is more driven by market demand.
In Shenzhen, innovation does not happen in the ivory tower but at the front - line of production and in the market.
Where there is a need, innovation occurs. Where there is a pain point, solutions are immediately sought.
Ma Huateng, when looking back on Tencent's entrepreneurial history, said:
"Looking back at many innovation points, we didn't set up an innovation department... Innovation opportunities usually arise when we find that users complain or are dissatisfied during the process of serving them quickly."
Simply put, Tencent's innovation comes from user feedback rather than plans or research laboratories.
The results of this market - driven innovation model are remarkable.
Tencent was founded in Shenzhen. It only took Ma Huateng a little over a decade to develop WeChat, which now influences 1.4 billion Chinese people, from pretending to be a female netizen to chat with users.
Along with Tencent's growth, there are also many "little giants" enterprises with global competitiveness in niche fields.
In 2024, the number of national - level high - tech enterprises in Shenzhen exceeded 25,000, with an average of 12 enterprises per square kilometer, ranking first in China in terms of density.
These enterprises may not be well - known to the public, but they master key core technologies in their respective fields.
For example, Inovance Technology, which makes engines for Xiaomi. Its motors are the core power for Xiaomi to continuously break records on the Nürburgring track.
The engine made by Inovance Technology for Xiaomi cars
Another example is JPT Opto - Electronics, which focuses on lasers and laser and optical intelligent equipment in the laser technology field. The shipment volume of its MOPA pulsed fiber lasers has exceeded that of its American and British counterparts, ranking first in the world. It accounts for more than 70% of the domestic market share and has remained the global sales champion for many years.
There is also Guangyue Technology, the first enterprise to achieve mass production in various niche fields of high - power optical devices. In 2008, it established the first high - power optical isolator production line in China. In 2021, it successfully developed a series of ten - kilowatt power - transmitting optical cables, reaching the world - leading level. Its related products have participated in projects such as the "Mozi" quantum communication satellite, the Beijing - Shanghai Trunk Line quantum communication project, and even the Tiangong Space Station project.
Although these "little giants" are not large in scale, they are like "single - event champions" in their niche fields.
One statistic shows that the average R & D intensity of Shenzhen's "little giants" enterprises reaches 7.63%, and the average annual R & D expenditure is 33.3919 million yuan, higher than the average level of national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises.
In addition, the sixth - batch "little giants" enterprises in Shenzhen applied for an average of 152 patents and nearly 6.5 PCT patents, significantly higher than the national average of 1.7 patents per enterprise. Nearly 30% of these enterprises led or participated in the formulation of international and national standards.
The "Global Urban Industrial Innovation Index Report" released by the research team of Professor Chen Xian from the Shenzhen Industry Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University shows that Shenzhen ranked first in the comprehensive evaluation of the four dimensions of industrial innovation environment, investment, output, and performance, higher than cities such as San Francisco, Beijing, and London.
Shenzhen ranks first in the urban industrial innovation index ranking
Who says that R & D must rely on century - old scientific research institutions? In Shenzhen, enterprises are the best universities, and the market is the best professor.
03 Be a "Nanny" Instead of a "Commanding Stick"
Of course, it doesn't sound like a scientific story if so many innovation achievements can be made just by relying on the laissez - faire of the market.
After all, the seeds of innovation need suitable soil.
The Shenzhen government has a "secret recipe" for preparing this soil.
The Shenzhen government realized early on that the government cannot replace enterprises in innovation, but it can create a good environment for innovation.
Different from the innovation model strongly led by the Singapore government, the Shenzhen government prefers to be a "nanny" for innovative enterprises rather than a "commanding stick".
What has this "nanny" done?
First, it has opened up application scenarios.
We all know that Shenzhen is the "City of Low - Altitude Economy". Many cities have drone technology, but Shenzhen was the first to open up flight scenarios and plan relevant routes.
In 2018, when drone formation performances were still a novelty, the Shenzhen government took the lead in opening up a test airspace in Talent Park. After the low - altitude economy was written into the government work report in 2022, 20 application scenarios were accelerated for implementation.
In 2024, a flying car flew over Shenzhen CBD for the first time
Facing the latest scientific and technological achievements in the market, Shenzhen regards the whole city as a test field and tries to open up as many test scenarios as possible.
This approach has achieved remarkable results.
In addition to drones, the new energy vehicle industry, which is now a leading industry, also has the support of Shenzhen.
Since 2003, at every crucial turning point of BYD's transformation, the Shenzhen government has strongly supported the enterprise, including building a large number of charging piles and supporting the procurement of BYD electric vehicles.
Now, the electrification rate of buses, taxis, and online car - hailing services in Shenzhen has reached 100%, ranking first in China in terms of the electrification level of public transportation.
Facing some emerging technologies, Shenzhen also has its own methodology.
Other cities mainly rely on subsidies and grants to cultivate new productive forces, but Shenzhen's state - owned assets pay more attention to market - oriented operations.
Through four major equity investment platforms: Shenzhen Capital Group, Shenzhen Investment Holdings, Shenzhen Capital Operation Group Co., Ltd., and Shenzhen Kunpeng Equity Investment Management Co., Ltd., they support the development of innovative enterprises as "long - term capital" and "patient capital".
Statistics show that among the first four batches of national - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative "little giants" enterprises, Shenzhen Capital Group has invested in 198 enterprises, and Shenzhen High - tech Investment Group under Shenzhen Investment Holdings has invested in 46 enterprises.
What are the characteristics of their investments?
They invest not when they see the results but at the stage when enterprises need funds the most.
Ni Zewang, the former chairman of Shenzhen Capital Group, revealed that among the enterprises invested by Shenzhen Capital Group, 26% are in the start - up stage, 57% are in the growth stage, and only 17% are in the mature stage.
This early - stage intervention has significantly increased the survival probability of innovative enterprises.
Shenzhen's state - owned assets also pay attention to creating physical space for innovative enterprises. Take the Shenzhen Bay Science and Technology Park in Nanshan District, Shenzhen as an example. After more than 10 years of operation by Shenzhen Investment Holdings, the park has gathered 191 municipal - level specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium - sized enterprises in Nanshan District, accounting for nearly 20% of the total in the district.
Shenzhen Bay Science and Technology Park
In the Shenzhen Bay Science and Technology Ecological Park, more than 100 AI start - up enterprises have gathered, which is commonly