There is a saying in China: “To see China's past, go to Beijing; for its present, go to Shanghai; and to see its future, go to Shenzhen.” If the United States has Silicon Valley, China has Shenzhen. Written in Chinese characters as 深圳 and pronounced “Shenzhen” in Chinese, it is a city located just above Hong Kong. Until it was designated as a special economic zone under the reform and opening-up policy in the 1980s, it was nothing more than a rural village mainly engaged in agriculture and fishing. In fact, millions of people used to illegally cross the border into Hong Kong in search of jobs. But today, Shenzhen has completely transformed into a different city.
1. A "Super-Sized Forest" in China's Silicon Valley, Managed by Drones
Leading Chinese tech companies such as Tencent, BYD, Huawei, and DJI are all headquartered in Shenzhen, and research complexes are densely clustered here as well. Long ago, Huaqiangbei, a symbol of Shenzhen and a dense electronics market district, became a mecca for young entrepreneurs, where it is said that if you order an electronics sample in the morning, it comes out by evening. That is why it is called China's Silicon Valley, drawing in young Chinese armed with technology and ideas. Now, Shenzhen is undergoing yet another transformation. Moving beyond high-tech industries, it is channeling its capabilities into eco-friendly development. It has designated an environmental protection zone covering 970 square kilometers, which accounts for more than half of the city's total area and is 1.5 times the size of Seoul. Considering that administrative districts in Chinese cities are relatively large, this is still a massive scale. Right in the middle of the urban center, a lush forest spanning 3 square kilometers—roughly the size of Yeouido—has been created. This is not just a protected zone or forest; advanced technologies are being mobilized to manage it. Drones fly around to monitor the condition of mangrove trees, which have high carbon absorption rates, and the information collected by these drones through AI technology is frequently shared with environmental authorities. This system is the result of collaboration between DJI, which accounts for 70% of the global drone market, and AI developers based in Shenzhen.
[DJI Official: This drone can identify the distribution of chlorophyll in crops. It is mainly used alongside agricultural drones. The analytical maps captured by drones show areas with sluggish crop growth and regions with high pest incidence rates.]
Drones can also directly put out small-scale fires and spray eco-friendly supplements necessary for growth.
2. Even Freight Trucks Go Electric, Substations Moved Underground
Shenzhen is also stepping up efforts to introduce electric vehicles with the goal of becoming a "carbon-neutral city" by 2035.
[Ni Ping / Shenzhen Citizen: Everything is electric. Even freight trucks are electric trucks. Taxis and buses are all new energy vehicles. The entire city of Shenzhen is like that.]
Achieving carbon neutrality requires an efficient electricity supply throughout the city, which is why urban substations have either been placed underground or converted into eco-friendly parks. By transforming the environment surrounding the substations, magnetic field generation was also minimized. I personally tested the internal magnetic field levels of the substation, and it was only 0.01 microteslas, which is one-hundredth the level of a hair dryer.
3. Why is China Obsessed with Eco-Friendliness?
So, why is Shenzhen going all-in on eco-friendliness? Behind this lies China's strategic judgment. Once called the world's factory and spewing pollutants, China has now risen to the stage where it competes strategically with the United States in AI, robotics, and semiconductor technologies. Taking it a step further, it has revealed its ambition for China to lead the world in environmental issues as well. Shenzhen is the ultimate model to showcase this. In particular, the APEC Summit will be held in Shenzhen this November. It is safe to assume there is an intention to promote Shenzhen as an eco-friendly high-tech city in front of leaders from around the world. Ahead of the APEC summit, China has been promoting eco-friendly, high-tech Shenzhen by hosting various APEC ministerial meetings there. Last month, the APEC Forestry Ministerial Meeting was held in Shenzhen, where the main agenda was, naturally, the environment.
[Park Eun-sik / Minister of the Korea Forest Service: I suppose the Chinese government wanted to highlight that Shenzhen is a highly developed region where China's reform and opening-up policy was first implemented and numerous high-tech companies are located. During the preliminary meetings, they heavily emphasized how well they are protecting ecological protection areas, marine natural resources, and mountain natural resources. Looking at it from that perspective, I think they believe Shenzhen can effectively showcase the development in harmony with nature emphasized by President Xi Jinping.]
In particular, the Chinese government has shown great interest in forest resource protection, and it wanted to share information and learn about South Korea's forest fire suppression capabilities and systems. This can be seen as a struggle to shed the image of fine dust and environmental pollution associated with China and become an eco-friendly nation.
Reported by Han Sang-woo | Produced by Shin Hee-suk | Video by Choi Deok-hyun | Video Editing by Ahn Jun-hyeok | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
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