Zones May Not Sound Exciting but They Changed the World
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18 | Thursday, September 3, 2020 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY LIFE Zones may not sound exciting but they changed the world “Special Economic Zones” does opening-up launched almost two est in what was going on, nobody ground for all kinds of concepts Shenzhen that has been the true more significant technology hub not sound particularly exciting. It years earlier at the end of 1978. would have then wagered on what from the way companies were miracle. than Silicon Valley given its conjures up industrial parks, They provided the platform for has transpired. formed to private ownership of real The city’s GDP has grown by a strengths in artificial intelligence bonded warehouses and other China to become the manufactur- “Until then, China had a largely estate.” factor of 10,000 from 270 million and digital technology as well as such basic infrastructure of a ing workshop of the world and top-down planned economy. Socie- Some have tried to argue retro- yuan ($39.51 million) in 1980 to China’s ambition to become a glob- sealed-off commercial area. transform itself from a poor agrari- ty was very poor and these zones spectively there was nothing special 2.69 trillion yuan last year. al technology leader by 2035. Yet China’s first an economy to the world’s second became a hot bed of experimenta- about China’s SEZs and they were I too witnessed and was I think that President Xi Jinping four SEZs, which are largest. tion in terms of creating a vibrant largely copying from the four Asian impressed by some of the early is certainly one who recognizes the celebrating the 40th Over recent weeks, I have been private sector,” he told me. tiger economies, Singapore, South development there when I made role played by Shenzhen and the anniversary of them speaking to a number of experts Wang Huiyao, president of the Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. my first visit to the Chinese main- other SEZs in the story of China’s being established, and economists to gauge their opin- Center for China and Globalization, Koh King Kee, president of the land in 1997. development. He also sees the are and never have ion on the significance of the crea- the Beijing-based independent Centre For New Inclusive Asia, a Yet it would have been difficult to interplay between Shenzhen and been just any ordi- tion of the SEZs and it was think tank, was a second-year stu- Kuala Lumpur-based think tank, envisage then the megalopolis the Hong Kong as vital for the success Andrew nary trading areas. interesting to hear some of their dent at the Guangzhou University said they were much more signifi- city has become today, certainly of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Ma- Moody The zones in recollections. of International Studies at the time cant than what had happened in rivaling China’s great municipali- cao Greater Bay Area, which could Second Shenzhen, Zhuhai Edward Tse, now in his 60s and and can remember it being an the rest of Asia. ties of Beijing, Shanghai, Chong- be one of the most dynamic areas of Thoughts and Shantou in the one of China’s best known man- exciting time. “It was China’s first test ground qing and Tianjin. Asia over the coming decades. coastal southern agement consultants, had just “The whole mood in China was for a market economy while the It is the only city in the world that The SEZs were the fundamental province in Guangdong and at Xia- returned to Hong Kong, then changing. The year before, in 1979, rest of the country remained very has full 5G access and is, of course, basis of China’s reform and open- men in Fujian province on the east under British rule, from studying we had had the opening of diplo- much planned. It was the embodi- home to telecommunications giant ing-up, but for this great nation to coast, that were launched in 1980, at the Massachusetts Institute of matic ties with the United States. ment of Deng Xiaoping’s develop- Huawei and Tencent Holdings, continue its success, the journey have changed the world in a funda- Technology when the SEZs were The SEZs, however, were the real ment strategy of ‘cross the river by which owns the WeChat social mes- will and must continue. mental way. launched just over the mainland opening up. They changed every- feeling the stones’,” he said. saging app. They were the first tangible sign border. thing,” he said. While the other SEZs have been Over the next decade or so, it is Contact the writer at of Deng Xiaoping’s reform and He said although there was inter- “They were an experimentation successful in their own right, it is not inconceivable it could become a [email protected] Candid camera: Setting the scene Potsdam Conference venue focuses on China, Asia theater of war POTSDAM, Germany — A carica- issued the Potsdam Proclamation, ture of Tin Tin’s China adventure, a calling for the unconditional sur- Kar98K rifle Germany sold to Chi- render of Japan. na, and the diary of John Rabe — The exhibition includes a short “China’s Oskar Schindler” — can movie, depicting the war between now be admired at the Cecilienhof Japan and China from the Mukden Palace in Potsdam, about 40 kilo- Incident on Sept 18, 1931, when meters from Berlin, Germany. Japan occupied Northeast China. These artifacts are part of a spe- Other major incidents are also cial exhibition that Germany is introduced, like the Lugou Bridge holding to commemorate the 75th Incident (also known as the Marco anniversary of the Potsdam Con- Polo Bridge Incident), the Nanjing ference, and is unprecedented in Massacre, and the building of Kun- its focus on the battles in China ming-Burma Road, a lifeline to and Asia during World War II. supply China after the sea and land The Cecilienhof Palace was the routes were cut off. location of the Potsdam Confer- The video footage shows Japa- ence held in July and August 1945. nese soldiers killing unarmed Chi- From July 17 to Aug 2, 1945, Sovi- nese citizens or burying them alive. et leader Joseph Stalin, US Presi- It tells not only of the frontline bat- dent Harry Truman, and British tlefields of the Chinese national Prime Minister Winston Churchill army led by the Kuomintang, but (later replaced by Clement Attlee), also the resistance battles led by met at the palace, built for Kaiser the Communist Party of China in Wilhelm II and his wife in the early Japanese-occupied areas. 20th century, to discuss the future Luh said that people in the West of Germany which had already sur- usually only pay attention to the rendered, Japan that was still at European theater. Many of them war, and the postwar order. don’t even know that the war had Dr Juergen Luh, a historian and already started before Germany Young performers get ready for Kunqu Opera on Friday. The opera, in Huqiu, Suzhou, Jiangsu province, Online exhibition curator at the Prussian invaded Poland. is part of a cultural gala featuring stage shows, forums and salons, as well as exhibitions. The event will Scan the QR code for Palaces and Gardens Foundation “The special exhibition focuses last until Oct 11. HANG XINGWEI / XINHUA subscription or to get a Berlin-Brandenburg (SPSG), the more on Asia during the war. We copy of today’s paper. administrative body of Cecilienhof, need to tell visitors what was going says that the conference was origi- on in Asia. It’s part of our history,” nally planned to be held in Berlin, Luh says. but the German capital was severe- Rabe’s diary recorded the cruel ly damaged and had no appropri- massacre of citizens after Japanese ate venue to host the event. troops occupied the Chinese capi- The artist behind Pixar’s latest hit animation Eventually, the almost intact Cecil- tal of the time, Nanking (Nanjing). ienhof Palace was chosen. A German Siemens representative, By XU FAN one more dinner together with The table around which Stalin, Rabe helped establish the Nanking [email protected] my grandparents.” Churchill and Truman negotiated Safety Zone that sheltered approxi- Tang, who was also involved in the aftermath of the war is on dis- mately 200,000 Chinese people When Pixar Animation Studios’ the production of Pixar’s Mon- play as it was 75 years ago. Next to from slaughter during the massa- shading artist Tang Lan, a Shang- sters University and Coco, reveals the room are the three offices that cre. hai native who graduated from the her main job is polishing props the Big Three (Britain, the United Days after the Potsdam Confer- San Francisco Art Institute, heard and items in the films according States and the Soviet Union) had ence, the US dropped atomic director Dan Scanlon sharing his to their particular textures and once used. On Churchill’s writing bombs on Japan’s Hiroshima and inspiration for the film Onward, characteristics, enabling them to desk visitors can see his walking Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands she couldn’t hold back her tears. convey hidden messages perti- cane, Panama hat, and a Dunhill of people and destroying the two As the latest and 22nd feature nent to the stories. cigar tube. All of them are original. cities. In the meantime, the Soviet produced by Pixar and distributed Speaking about the most valua- Named Potsdam Conference 1945 Red Army launched an offensive by Disney, Onward was released ble lessons she has learned at Pix- — Shaping the World, the exhibi- against Japan-occupied Manchu- across Chinese mainland theaters ar, she attributes it to “the tion tells the story how the confer- ria, Northeast China.