Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, during his three-day visit to Shenzhen that ended on Sept 12, joined leaders from other developing countries as they visited the Silicon Valley of China, attracted by its four-decade development miracle.
Hichilema visited Tencent, ZTE, BYD, and Huawei, to learn about Shenzhen's experience in transforming itself into a modern industrial powerhouse, local news outlet Shenzhen Daily reported.
Prior to Hichilema, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro Moros also made Shenzhen his first stop on his seven-day visit to China. "When you are in China, you are in the future," Maduro said, noting that what aspect of China's development impressed him most was the country's technological advancement, the Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported.
Maduro and his wife watched a drone light show on his first day in Shenzhen and his wife recorded the show on her phone, a video released by local media said. For those who are looking for development, technology and new inventions, Shenzhen is an important place, so it is a good starting point, Maduro was quoted by media reports as saying.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune visited Shenzhen in July, exclaiming that Shenzhen's development is a miracle. President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo went to Shenzhen in May, where he visited Huawei and reached a cooperation memorandum with Huawei on the country's digital transformation.
So far this year, there have been at least 60 foreign officials of deputy minister level and above who have visited Shenzhen, according to media reports.
"Shenzhen is a trailblazer in China's reform and opening-up and has achieved great economic miracles over the past four decades, becoming a model for development for other cities and countries across the world. The intensive visits of foreign leaders reflect their aspirations to learn about Shenzhen's experience, especially in technological innovation," said Song Wei, a professor at the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University.
Once a small fishing town, Shenzhen has become a global hardware center and hub for scientific and technological advances after more than four decades of reform and opening-up. Public data showed there are more than 23,000 national-level high-tech enterprises in the special economic zone, with tech giants including Huawei, Tencent, TCL and drone-maker DJI born in the tech wonderland.
"Other countries could especially learn how Shenzhen deploys the power of both technology and the market to move upward on global supply chains," said Liu Guohong, director of the Department of Finance and Modern Industries at the China Development Institute in Shenzhen.
As the old saying goes, "give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." China seeks win-win industrial development with other developing countries through infrastructure and production capacity cooperation, Liu said.
He stressed that China attaches importance to the overall capacity improvement of its trade partners, noting that China's digital and tech upgrading - for example, in new-energy vehicles - will provide more opportunities for developing countries.
Shenzhen will provide valuable reform and opening-up as well as sci-tech innovation experience for developing countries that have a similar starting point as China, Chinese observers said, noting that the nation's firm commitment to opening-up brings more cooperation opportunities for the whole world.
Source: Global Times
