Why do global "gold prospectors" flock here? What makes Shenzhen stand out?

How is AI and Shenzhen’s tech experience attracting global attention?

21st Century Business Herald Reporter Li Jinping, Shenzhen Report

“Shenzhen feels like living in 2050.” Recently, on international social media platforms, several foreign video bloggers made such comments. Today, more and more overseas influencers are choosing Shenzhen as their first stop to experience China.

Since last year, besides foreign influencers, foreign media reporters and foreign officials have also joined the ranks of exploring Shenzhen’s city charm. According to incomplete statistics, by 2025, over 20 groups and more than 200 foreign media reporters from countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Japan, and New Zealand have visited Shenzhen; including foreign heads of state and government leaders, over 400 delegations have visited.

Driven by this wave of visits, an increasing number of foreign tourists are choosing Shenzhen as a travel destination. Data from the Shenzhen municipal government work report in 2026 shows that the number of entries and exits at Shenzhen ports reached 273 million annually, a record high, with foreign arrivals ranking second nationwide for two consecutive years.

Not only are foreign tourists coming in droves, but global investors are also turning their attention to Shenzhen. Data shows that in 2025, Shenzhen’s actual use of foreign investment reached 50.48 billion yuan, an increase of 14.4%, ranking second among Chinese cities; approximately 16,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established, a 63.3% increase, the highest among major Chinese cities.

Why are people coming? What do they see? What do they leave behind?

Shenzhen in the World Flow

When mentioning world-class tourist cities, Shenzhen may not be the first in China.

Compared to Guangzhou, Shenzhen lacks the historical and cultural heritage of a thousand-year-old commercial city. Landmarks like Chen Clan Ancestral Hall and Canton Tower are famous, and compared to Shanghai, Shenzhen does not have the harmonious blend of history and modernity. The Bund’s international architecture, Lujiazui’s skyscrapers, Yuyuan Garden’s Jiangnan style, and Disneyland attract global tourists.

However, what breaks the traditional perception is that Shenzhen has ranked second in the number of foreign arrivals in China for two consecutive years.

So, what makes Shenzhen special?

Perhaps the answer can be found in the area with the most foreigners in Shenzhen.

If you ask where most foreigners in Shenzhen are, Huaqiangbei is definitely on the list.

As China’s number one consumer electronics street, foreign tourists are everywhere in Huaqiangbei.

On the third floor of Huaqiangbei Electronics World, foreign visitors can be seen everywhere—some consulting on their phones, carefully searching for desired electronic products; some stopping to watch new products with eager eyes; some having already chosen their favorite items, bargaining skillfully with shop staff.

(A picture: Foreign tourists paying on the third floor of Huaqiangbei Electronics World, photo by Li Jinping)

A drone shop clerk told 21st Century Business Herald that about 40% of their customers are foreign visitors, with Europeans and Americans accounting for 70% of the foreign customers in the store. They prefer to buy first-person view flying drones, as some regions abroad are vast and sparsely populated, with excellent flying scenes suitable for landscape filming. They like faster flying speeds, flying glasses, and better immersive experiences.

Such shopping scenes happen daily in Huaqiangbei. Data from Huaqiangbei shows that the area receives about 7,000 foreign visitors daily, and in 2026, the “Huaqiangbei AI Eight Horses” products are expected to be hot sellers.

Besides shopping for tech products, foreigners also enjoy immersive tech experiences like drone food delivery, drone exhibitions, and robot performances.

Meituan’s drone business strategy head Liu Shuo previously said that in 2025, foreign tourists visiting Shenzhen parks for drone delivery increased significantly during holidays, with visitors from over ten countries including Spain, South Korea, Japan, Poland, the US, the UK, and Switzerland. Orders from overseas users increased by nearly 161% year-on-year.

The person in charge of the country’s first 6S robot store said that their exhibits cover fields like home services, medical assistance, industrial inspection, and educational companionship. They also hold robot performances at fixed times, with an average of about 100,000 visitors per month, 30% of whom are foreigners.

(A picture: Robot performance in front of the country’s first 6S robot store, photo by Li Jinping)

The above-mentioned tech product purchases and immersive tech tourism projects are also confirmed by videos on overseas social media platforms. A typical example is a video by a Spanish travel blogger. Recently, they posted a series titled “You’re Not Ready for the Most Futuristic City in the World | China’s Shenzhen,” which has over 500,000 views. The video begins with Shenzhen’s development over the past 40 years, then records their experiences with drone food delivery, autonomous vehicles, and other projects. Facing these amazing experiences, they exclaimed, “Shenzhen is a city full of futurism.”

Professor Li Zhou, deputy director of Jinan University’s Institute of Advanced Health Tourism, told 21st Century Business Herald that for many foreign tourists, when they want to understand China beyond traditional cultural landmarks like the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Terracotta Warriors, Shenzhen becomes a top choice—it is a vivid microcosm of regional development in China. As a highly open, modern city, it is also very suitable for independent travel, making it a popular first stop for many foreigners visiting China.

This indicates that Shenzhen is attracting global attention with its futuristic city label.

From “Checking in the Future” to “Discovering Opportunities”

Traveling to Shenzhen may just be the beginning of its global flow.

Sharp entrepreneurs have already sensed the opportunity. Going to Shenzhen to seek development opportunities and staying there is becoming a trend.

The first to catch this wave are Hong Kong residents just across the river from Shenzhen.

On March 11, the Shenzhen Futian Port Entry Service Center informed that the number of Hong Kong people opening stores and starting businesses in Shenzhen is growing.

Futian Port Entry Service Center head Fan Xitai told reporters that as the integration of Shenzhen and Hong Kong deepens, Hong Kong residents’ consumption in Shenzhen has become increasingly normalized. Additionally, due to cost advantages, opening a store in Shenzhen costs four to five times less than in Hong Kong, making Shenzhen a new choice for many Hong Kong residents. According to incomplete statistics, since 2026, the center has received an average of 2-3 inquiries daily from Hong Kong residents about entrepreneurship, with over 30 Hong Kong visitors expressing clear investment intentions.

In fact, opening stores in Shenzhen is just a microcosm of Hong Kong investors coming to Shenzhen for investment and entrepreneurship. In 2025, 2,800 Hong Kong-funded enterprises were added in the Qianhai core zone of Shenzhen-Hong Kong integration, a year-on-year increase of 83.1%. The actual foreign investment in Qianhai reached 29.32 billion yuan, accounting for 58.1% of Shenzhen’s total. Fan Xitai also revealed that in 2025, the center helped attract Hong Kong investors to invest 150 million yuan in Futian District, with the largest single investment reaching 50 million yuan.

Beyond Hong Kong, global foreign investment is also focusing on Shenzhen. Over the past year, more than 110 countries and regions have invested in Shenzhen. Well-known foreign companies such as DuPont (USA), Dassault (France), Degu (France), BP (UK), and Hexagon (Sweden) have established new or expanded investments in Shenzhen. To date, 180 countries and regions worldwide have invested in Shenzhen, with over 340 Fortune 500 companies operating there.

Among them, financial and high-tech companies are moving faster. Foreign banks are continuously expanding their presence through various means: China Merchants Bank, CMB Wing Lung Bank, CITIC Bank International, and OCBC Bank have established fintech subsidiaries in Shenzhen; DBS Bank has invested three times to increase its stake in Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank; Daxin Bank has established the country’s first “dual-licence” bank; Santander Bank from Spain has been approved to set up a Shenzhen branch. Currently, the number and scale of foreign banks in Shenzhen remain among the top three in Chinese cities.

High-tech companies are mainly investing in R&D centers. Shenzhen now hosts over 200 foreign R&D centers with more than 30,000 R&D personnel. Multinational corporations like Apple, Siemens, Starbucks, TÜV Rheinland, and Dassault have set up innovation, R&D, and manufacturing bases in Shenzhen. By 2025, the actual foreign investment in Shenzhen’s high-tech industry exceeded 23 billion yuan, accounting for over 40% of the city’s total foreign investment.

Why Shenzhen? The companies that have already settled give their reasons.

“Shenzhen is one of China’s youngest and most dynamic cities, where innovation is embedded in its DNA,” said the person in charge of Starbucks China Innovation Technology Center, explaining why they chose Shenzhen. The company, famous for coffee, is trying to capture the digital wave of the Greater Bay Area. In September 2025, Starbucks’ China Innovation Technology Center in Shenzhen officially began operations.

“Shenzhen has China’s earliest and most complete new energy vehicle industry chain,” said He Xianjun, head of Valeo’s Shenzhen plant. This French auto parts giant’s Shenzhen factory has become the group’s largest global intelligent system production base and electronics R&D center after 20 years of development. “We will continue to use Shenzhen as a platform to deepen technological iteration and capacity optimization in intelligent driving and smart cabins, consolidating our investment in China,” He Xianjun said.

Beyond markets and industrial chains, Shenzhen also provides another layer of security by actively creating a transparent, stable, and predictable institutional environment, allowing foreign-invested enterprises to come, stay, develop well, and grow quickly.

Previously, Shenzhen issued the “Shenzhen Special Economic Zone Foreign Investment Regulations,” continuously improving services to promote foreign investment and striving to become the “best investment destination in the world.” In December 2025, the “Shenzhen Measures for Further Attracting and Utilizing Foreign Investment” was issued, proposing 22 specific measures to promote openness in key areas, optimize the business environment, and improve investment facilitation, building a comprehensive policy support system to attract more high-quality foreign investment.

This series of attention and focus may just be the beginning of Shenzhen’s appeal to the world. In 2026, Shenzhen will host the APEC summit, welcoming global attention. During a press conference at the National People’s Congress this year, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi responded to questions about “China’s foreign policy and foreign relations,” saying, “The concept of the Asia-Pacific community has been proposed for decades, but it cannot stay on paper or be limited to a vision. We hope to find answers in Shenzhen, gather consensus, clarify priority areas, and develop feasible measures to make building an Asia-Pacific community a broad regional consensus and a vibrant practice.”

It is foreseeable that 2026 will be Shenzhen’s year.