Shenzhen dethrones Shanghai, Beijing as China’s top industrial powerhouse, mayor boasts

The southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen has handed in a glowing report card of technological and economic development, surpassing Shanghai and Beijing as the nation’s largest manufacturing and exporting city while solidifying a lead in artificial intelligence and start-up cultivation, its mayor has revealed. Shenzhen’s economy grew from 2.83 trillion yuan in 2020 to 3.87 trillion yuan (US$560 billion) in 2025. The city’s annualised growth rate of 5.5 per cent over that period also...

By Frank Chen