TheSZWeb | Shenzhen News and Commentary

Shenzhen is apparently accelerating the construction of the new lines (or trying to catch up on behind schedule projects?) meaning 2008 will see hundreds of new construction sites all opened up at the same time, unsurprisingly leading to huge transport disruption.

SHENZHEN will see about 18 months of serious traffic congestion starting from the end of this year, caused by the construction of five Metro lines in five districts.

A total of 150 construction sites will be seen around the city along the planned Metro lines, affecting traffic on 24 main roads and at 37 intersections within the Special Economic Zone, according to a government announcement published in Chinese-language newspapers yesterday.

Read the article here

The Shenzhen Metro is supposed to be all finished by 2011, with the aim to relieve pressure on the roads, where the number of cars is growing 20 percent year on year.

The 2 obvious points that seem to be missed are that:

• People with a car are extremely unlikely to stop using their car and use the metro instead. Maybe in other parts of the world, but not SZ, where a car is a hard-won status symbol still. (And the new metro lines, presumably, will be like lines 1 and 4 when they opened up: 1 train going up and down, and 20 minute waits at soulless underground stations.)
• The problem with Shenzhen is not really the density of traffic. You get that in any city. It’s a total lack of transport control. Almost total absence of transport police. Dangerous, rule-less driving. People leaving their cars in the middle of the highway to argue over a small scratch for two hours. Maniac bus drivers who used to drive minibuses and now drive the big ones with the same king of the road mentality.

Putting out a bulletin to warn people about transport disruption, without any description of how the disruption can be controlled, is just another example of the problem: lack of road transport control/policy.

Anyway, better stop complaining. It’ll all be fine by 2012.

17,000 - foreigners living permanently in Shenzhen

430,000 - foreigners studying or working temporarily in Shenzhen

8.46 million - Shenzhen hukou holders in 2006

11 million - target limit of Shenzhen hukou holders by 2020, cha right

15 million - “warning threshold” at which “the per capita public resources will be reduced and the city’s development restrained”…
12345 - Phone number for English language hotline for laowai to whinge about lack of public services.

Originally appeared on www.chinainvestingadvice.com on 7/19/07
It was hot and humid outside of the Shangri La Hotel in Shenzhen last night. The smog-choked air made every breath difficult. Crowds of migrant workers filled the sidewalks while cars zipped up and down the streets urgently.

My kids and I were on our way to an Italian restaurant for dinner. After one full week of eating nothing but Chinese food, my son Sean wanted some good old-fashioned spaghetti carbonara, and my local contacts in Shenzhen had told me about an obscure little Italian restaurant hidden near our hotel.

Despite the unpleasant conditions outside, there was a chaotic energy in the air. I wasn’t the only one who could feel it—even the kids sensed the elevated energy buzzing about everywhere. All of the action, growth and ambition were easy to see. It’s obvious that the people of Shenzhen want to get rich and are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal.

If capitalism has a new frontier—a Wild West in the far East—Shenzhen would be it. Over the past 20 years, the former sleepy fishing village across the river from Hong Kong has became the greatest boomtown ever known to mankind. The city had less than 100,000 people about 25 years ago, but today it has a population close to 7 million, or nearly twice that of Chicago. The city also has a unique demographic structure compared with other major international cities—he average resident’s age is only 29, and women outnumber men, which is a rarity in China.

For more information on Shenzhen, investing in China or Robert Hsu, please visit www.chinainvestingadvice.com.

What happens if you search on Amazon for books with “Shenzhen” in the title?

Here are Amazon’s recommendations:

The books:

– Fourth International Symposium on Optical Storage (Isos ‘96): 22-26 April 1996 Shenzhen Guangdong Province China (Paperback)
Verdict: BORING!

–Gender and the South China Miracle: Two Worlds of Factory Women (Paperback)
Verdict: Could be interesting despite the blurb “The author concludes that it is primarily the differences in the gender politics of the two labour markets that determine the culture of each factory, arguing that gender plays a crucial role in the cultures and management strategies of factories that rely heavily on women workers.”

–The Death of a Shenzhen Angel (Paperback)
Verdict: Something about this phrase got my proxy cut by China internet, so could be interesting! According to a reviewer: “The plot of the book is somewhat predictable as it has feel of some B-rated cheesy love/drama movies. The book, however, does an excellent job of explaining changes that is gripping China ever since Deng Xiaoping’s open reform policy opened up China’s economy.”

–Shenzhen (Paperback) by Guy Delisle
Verdict: totally excellent book - a Tintin comic book style narration of a foreigner in Shenzhen. Hilarious and insightful. Anyone coming to China, especially Shenzhen, should read this.

This is proving to be an interesting topic… Every time I post a new element to this I get cut off by China internet filters. Reading books corrupts the nation…Blogging weakens the state!

–High-performance Ceramics III: Proceedings of the Third China International Conference on High-performance Ceramics (CICC-3), Shenzhen, China, May 9-12, 2004 (Key Engineering Materials) (Paperback)
Verdict: Set to compete with the next Harry Potter for sure.

–Modernization in China (Hardcover)
Verdict: Obviously dry and academic; most likely out of date in any normal life related observations, unless these guys got stuck into ‘field work’ in the evenings… “Based on extensive research and field-work, this book provides up-to-date information on the progress of the zones, and analyses their background, economic potential and planning implications, with particular emphasis on the most advanced of the zones, that of Shenzhen.”

–Pioneering Economic Reform in China’s Special Economic Zones: The Promotion of Foreign Investment and Technology Transfer in Shenzhen (Hardcover)
Verdict: Another academic sounding paper… “an in-depth case study of the largest zone - Shenzhen. The major theme is that spatial placement and unique planning activities, which are not found elsewhere within China, are more important in explaining the performance of SEZs than is acknowledged in the existing literature.” - Yes, just for the record, Shenzhen has planning, and other places don’t.

–SHENZHEN GREAT OCEAN SHIPPING CO. LTD.: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (Financial Performance Series) (Ring-bound)
Verdict: Preorder now.

Shenzhen is a big enough city and a big enough story. Where are the real books and travel guides? They are overdue considering the large number of books about Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Hong Kong. As Shenzhen continues to show, having a long history isn’t everything.

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