Human Resources
From 1985 through 2006, Shenzhen had brought in 270,000 overseas experts in various fields, including about 10,000 returned overseas Chinese students. The city now has more than 1.67 million professionals, making Shenzhen an important base for focusing and harnessing talent.
Commence and Trade
The city’s consumer market is in stable growth. In 2006, retail sales of consumer products totaled 167.129 billion yuan, up 16.2 percent over the previous year. The city’s retail industry had more than 300,000 employees and the total number of retail outlets exceeded 90,000 with floor space totaling more than 5 million square meters. The city had more than 50 supermarkets with floor space exceeding 10,000 square meters, and Dongmen and Huaqiangbei emerged as the city’s two main shopping centers, each covering an area of 1 million square meters. World famous retailers, such as IKEA, Jusco, B&Q and Target, have set up their regional headquarters, procurement centers and supply centers in Shenzhen.
Real Estate Industry
Shenzhen has set up an excellent regulation system for land and real estate marketing and management. A survey report, released by the Guangdong Provincial Statistics Bureau, shows that Shenzhen ranks first among the cities in the Pearl River Delta region in terms of competitiveness in real estate development. There are more than 700 companies involved in real estate development in Shenzhen.
Guarantor Industry
Credit guarantor institutions have more than 500 employees, of which 33 percent have a master’s or higher degree; 6.34 percent are certified with senior profession accreditation and 24.3 percent are graduates majoring in finance.
Trade Fair Sector
Shenzhen is well-known for trade fairs. The city’s watch and clock exposition has become the industry’s third-largest trade fair around the world. The furniture and jewelry trade fairs are becoming increasingly known internationally and have become larger in scale. The Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, built with an investment of 2.5 billion yuan, covers an area of 220,000 square meters with floor space totaling 280,000 square meters. It was completed and put into use in 2004. Among more than 170 companies involved with trade fairs, 25 have a registered capital higher than 10 million yuan.
Intermediary Services
With the implementation of CEPA (Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement), intermediary businesses, mainly including accounting, consulting and legal services, have given a new boost to the city’s economic growth. In 2006, there were 231 law firms with 4,105 certified lawyers, and 253 accounting firms with 3,000 certified accountants.