Shenzhen in the eyes of foreigners

Here’s some background on Shenzhen: A modern metropolis unbeknown to many outside China, Shenzhen is a city of around 18 million permanent residents on the border with Hong Kong. A former fishing village, it’s only actually been a city since the economic reforms of Deng Xiao Ping and China’s so-called “opening up”, which began around 1978. Under these measures, Shenzhen was declared a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), providing tax breaks and other benefits to companies and workers in an attempt to attract investment. Today, the city is home to a vibrant tech economy, hence clichés about Shenzhen being the “Silicon Valley of China” and “the world’s factory”. Major domestic companies like Huawei and Tencent, as well small start-ups, are now headquartered here. Shenzhen’s SEZ status has produced many opportunities in areas like R&D and engineering. As many products are exported abroad, however, the Chinese companies here also need native speakers of various languages to market and sell their products overseas. This has in turn led to many opportunities for foreigners who want to work in Shenzhen’s tech industry as copywriters, marketers and sales exces.