Top 3 in Sci-Tech Innovation, Shenzhen Still Cannot Hide Anxiety | Regional Sci-Tech Innovation Analysis

Ask AI · After DJI, who will take over as Shenzhen’s new engine for industrial upgrades?

In 2025, Shenzhen’s total GDP for the entire city reached 3.87 trillion yuan, a year-over-year increase of 5.5%.

Even though this is still a ways behind Shanghai and Beijing, which have already entered the “5-trillion-yuan” club, judging by growth rates, Shenzhen continues to lead among top-tier cities. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, Shenzhen’s GDP repeatedly crossed the milestones of 3 trillion yuan and 3.5 trillion yuan. If it can sustain this momentum, it should be no surprise that Shenzhen will step onto the 4-trillion-yuan level in 2026.

For a megacity, its development envelope is defined by two lines—resilience holds down the economic floor, while iteration capability determines the growth ceiling. For Shenzhen, the former comes from industry, while the latter comes from sci-tech innovation.

The lineup of Shenzhen’s leading enterprises also reflects these two points.

In 2025, the Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation Database covered the overwhelming majority of A-share, Hong Kong stock, and U.S. stock companies with operations primarily in China/controlled in China—totaling 7,065 companies. Of these, 580 were registered in Shenzhen (579 listed companies, plus Huawei). Of the total, about 60% of the enterprises come from manufacturing.

In the overall ranking of China’s enterprise sci-tech innovation strength, the top three (Huawei, BYD, Tencent) are all based in Shenzhen. They come from the communication transmission equipment industry, the automobile manufacturing industry, and the information transmission, software, and information technology services industry, respectively.

Nanfang Weekend researcher infographic; data source: Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation Database

Shenzhen’s vitality comes from one round of industrial iteration after another—hitting a series of industry windfalls. But amid the current wave of artificial intelligence, software is redefining hardware. Competition among cities for sci-tech innovation talent and emerging industries is intensifying, and this is also shaking the foundation of Shenzhen’s previous advantages. Shenzhen likewise faces deep innovation anxiety.

Industrial innovation, an ongoing “turn and restart”

Even though GDP has not yet reached 4 trillion yuan, the total output value of enterprises above a designated size in Shenzhen’s industrial sector has already moved past 5 trillion yuan. Shenzhen has long remained “China’s No. 1 industrial city,” and it is also the one frontline city with the highest share of GDP coming from the secondary industry (37.39%). Industry has always been seen as its base platform.

Looking at how Shenzhen’s industrial system has changed over time, it can be described as a fast and nonstop “turn and restart.”

Shenzhen’s starting point in industry is similar to Guangzhou’s. In the early days of reform and opening up, it also relied on “processing with supplied materials, with supplied parts, and compensatory trade” to gather large traditional industrial clusters. But a relatively single development model led to insufficient momentum afterward, and Shenzhen hit bottlenecks earlier than Guangzhou. In 1986, Shenzhen’s GDP growth rate reversed direction downward—from 24.5% the previous year to 2.7%.

Against this backdrop, Shenzhen did two things.

First, it redirected the remaining traditional industries toward higher-end applications, encouraging traditional manufacturing enterprises to integrate and develop with the next generation of information technology. Taking textiles and footwear and apparel as an example: among the enterprises added to Shenzhen’s registry in 2025, Shenzhen had 8 companies, generating revenues of 19.584 billion yuan—nearly twice that of Guangzhou’s 9 peer companies. Moreover, among these 8 companies, 5 disclosed their R&D spending. Their average R&D investment was 1.10 billion yuan per company. At present, the number of high-end women’s apparel brands in Shenzhen and their market share are among the top in the country.

Second, it accelerated the “cage-for-bird” replacement process. As early as 1987, Shenzhen formulated the “Interim Provisions on Encouraging Scientific and Technological Personnel to Start Private Science and Technology Enterprises.” That same year, Huawei was founded. The following year, the first mainland plant of Foxconn was established in Shenzhen. Next-generation technology firms gradually clustered there, and later grew into Shenzhen’s new pillars.

Looking at the Shenzhen enterprises added in 2025, these two moves have produced notable results. Among the 580 Shenzhen enterprises, 486 disclosed R&D information; 425 disclosed R&D personnel. Their average R&D investment was 10.01 billion yuan, slightly lower than Beijing’s 11.86 billion yuan, but far higher than Shanghai’s 5.14 billion yuan and Guangzhou’s 2.76 billion yuan. In total, they gathered 611,500 R&D personnel, and the average share of R&D personnel reached 22.23%.

If we measure simply by the R&D intensity requirements in the recognition criteria for high-tech enterprises: among the 485 enterprises in Shenzhen that disclosed operating revenue and R&D investment amounts, 373 meet the conditions, accounting for more than three-quarters (76.91%).

Nanfang Weekend researcher infographic; data source: Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation Database

Industrial upgrading directly drove the next generation of foreign trade. Foreign trade is another pillar of Shenzhen’s economy. In 2025, Shenzhen’s total import and export value reached 4.55 trillion yuan, achieving “33 straight wins” among mainland Chinese cities. Exports of high-tech products grew 10.1%. Exports of items such as digital cameras, 3D printers, measurement and testing instruments, and medical devices all ranked No. 1 nationwide in total. Collectively, they reached 109.77 billion yuan, up 17.4%.

The life force of Shenzhen also comes from this generational succession, which is especially evident in its leading companies.

Several core industries in Shenzhen have produced prominent champions. In the Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation strength ranking, Huawei, BYD, and Tencent take the top three positions. They each contribute 55.32%, 16.53%, and 8.27% of total revenue of all enterprises registered nationwide in their respective industries. They are also Shenzhen’s enterprises with the highest R&D spending—investing 72.44%, 21.01%, and 14.31% of the total R&D investment in the nationwide registered enterprises in their respective industries. In every industry, they rank first. With strong main businesses, these strong champions continue to double down on sci-tech innovation.

Nanfang Weekend researcher infographic; data source: Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation Database

Founded in 1987, Huawei; founded in 1995, BYD; founded in 1998, Tencent. And if we add DJI, founded in 2006, then these correspond respectively to Shenzhen’s successive rise in industries such as communications, automobiles, the internet, and unmanned aerial vehicles. Behind each of them stand leaders from different decades—Ren Zhengfei of the 1940s, Wang Chuanfu of the 1960s, Ma Huateng of the 1970s, and Wang Tuo of the 1980s—continuous handovers of innovative talent in China and the “peacocks flying southeast.”

After DJI, who will take over?

As the wave of artificial intelligence technology rolls in, Shenzhen has once again been pushed to a crossroads of industrial iteration. Compared with its earlier policy advantages and talent magnetism as the frontline of reform and opening up and an economic special zone, the competing cities—represented by Hangzhou—are also exerting unprecedented strength. “After DJI, who will take over?” has become a question Shenzhen cannot avoid.

Shenzhen urgently needs more new industries and new enterprises. As a “hardware capital,” it needs more “soft” factors.

In 2022, Shenzhen further reorganized and upgraded the seven strategic emerging industries into a “20+8” framework of strategic emerging industries and future industry clusters, with industries related to “intelligence” taking up a relatively high share.

Looking only at the information transmission, software, and information technology services industry—which serves as a major carrier of artificial intelligence—Beijing and Shanghai have 188 and 77 registered enterprises respectively, both higher than Shenzhen. Hangzhou, a rising “digital economy capital,” may not have as many enterprises as Shenzhen in terms of count, but in this industry its average R&D investment is 18.13 billion yuan, average revenue is 244.87 billion yuan, and average R&D intensity is 19.08%. For comparison, Shenzhen’s three corresponding metrics are 12.56 billion yuan, 120.63 billion yuan, and 15.27%, all lower than Hangzhou.

Even the hardware sector—an advantage foundation—needs to be further deeply integrated with AI. In Huaqiangbei, AI hardware has become a new buzzword, but many products still stop at simply embedding basic AI chat functionality into traditional hardware. Shenzhen enterprises need more innovation that reaches the core.

In March 2025, the “Action Plan of Shenzhen Municipality to Accelerate the Development of AI Terminal Industries (2025—2026)” proposed an ambitious goal: by 2026, the scale of the AI terminal industry will reach over 800 billion yuan, striving for 1 trillion yuan. As of 2024, however, the city’s AI industry scale was only 360 billion yuan. This means that this year, the figure needs to grow by multiples.

Among registered enterprises, several major businesses closely tied to AI are especially focused on R&D, aiming to accelerate their transformation. The average R&D intensity of enterprises in information transmission, software, and information technology services, and in communication transmission equipment is 15.27% and 14.12%, respectively.

Nanfang Weekend researcher infographic; data source: Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation Database

On the other hand, Shenzhen also needs more new-generation enterprises. Strong leading companies form the top pillar of Shenzhen’s industries. But on the other side of the coin is “class solidification”: big companies absorb the city’s pool of intellectual resources, turning industrial clusters into nothing more than pure industrial supporting infrastructure.

Data from 2024 annual reports shows that Huawei and BYD together have 234,600 R&D personnel, accounting for nearly four tenths of the total R&D personnel among registered enterprises in Shenzhen (38.36%).

After Hangzhou saw the emergence of the “Six Little Dragons,” in early 2025 Shenzhen held a themed press conference on “Building the Best Sci-Tech Innovation Ecosystem and Talent Development Environment.” It proposed a series of supports such as computing power subsidies and industrial funds, attempting to compete for talent and re-enter an “entrepreneurship era.”

Ranked by R&D intensity, Shenzhen’s top ten registered enterprises are, for the vast majority, specialized, niche, and innovative SMEs. All of them have not yet achieved profitability. Their business covers embodied intelligence, chips, pharmaceuticals, and more. Among them, JingTai Holding has the highest R&D intensity at 156.98%, while ST Saiwei has the lowest at 36.24%. In addition to these listed companies, Shenzhen also plans to cultivate 1,000 gazelles and 80 unicorns by 2027. Together, these form its sci-tech innovation reserves for the future.

Nanfang Weekend researcher infographic; data source: Nanfang Weekend China Enterprise Sci-Tech Innovation Database

Enterprises—especially private enterprises—have long been the main force behind Shenzhen’s sci-tech innovation, creating a unique ecosystem of “6 of 90%” (note: over 90% of innovative-type enterprises are local enterprises; over 90% of R&D institutions, R&D personnel, and R&D funding are within enterprises; and over 90% of invention patents for positions and major science and technology project invention patents come from enterprises).

From the Nanfang Weekend enterprise sci-tech innovation strength database, it also appears that Shenzhen enterprises’ pursuit of innovation is in the front ranks. In 2025, the average number of Chinese invention patent applications among Shenzhen registered enterprises was 77.88, slightly lower than Beijing’s 95.58, but far higher than Shanghai’s 32.94. The average number of Chinese invention patent authorizations was 8.98, higher than both Beijing (7.52) and Shanghai (2.03).

In addition, among registered enterprises in Shenzhen, there are 432 private enterprises, accounting for 74.48%, contributing 89.46% of R&D investment. Both figures are clearly higher than those of other first-tier cities. This means Shenzhen has a high degree of flexibility and market orientation. But on the other side of the story, enterprises tend toward “inventor-style” innovation that is highly utilitarian and focused on solving current engineering problems, rather than “scientist-style” innovation that pursues breakthrough original theories.

This innovation paradigm of “highly focused on invention, light on discovery” enables Shenzhen to quickly catch up and iterate in applied technologies. But the lack of original innovation may also become a future ceiling—and it is a key lesson that must be learned.

How to keep maintaining leadership, and who will be the successor who carries forward generational innovation? Shenzhen urgently needs to find the answers.

Nanfang Weekend researcher Ding Li

Editors: Huang Pingjin