Shenzhen

40 years ago Shenzhen was no more than a collection of sleepy fishing villages peering to wealthy Hong Kong. Today it is a global powerhouse for hardware manufacturing, with a skyline than (nearly) rivals Hong Kong.

The startup ecosystem in Shenzhen is characterized by a “maker culture”, with a multitude of small, agile makerspaces for rapid prototyping and product optimization. In Europe it may cost 20 euros and take 1-2 days to assemble a basic PCB (printed circuit board), the same device can be made in Shenzhen in 20 minutes for less than 1 euro.

But Shenzhen is more than a global factory space. Right now it is rapidly becoming one of China’s fastest growing innovation hubs. It has the youngest population of any major Chinese city, an international mindset, and very startup-friendly regulations.

For more information, check out and download our ecosystem report below.

Reasons to go

• The best spot for rapid prototyping
• Young population with a startup spirit
• Open-source manufacturing sparks innovation and competition
• Global tech leaders contribute to the development of the ecosystem
• Strong funding opportunities

Key sectors

• Hardware manufacturing

City clusters

• Futian, Huaqiangbei