Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT

Tuesday marks the 45th anniversary of the establishment of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in South China's Guangdong Province. As the city's remarkable economic achievements continue to attract global attention, its expanding import-export volume and the growing presence of foreign research and development (R&D) centers demonstrate that economic openness is not a one-way street, but rather a shared pathway to growth with the world. In an era of rising protectionism, Shenzhen's success offers particularly valuable lessons.

Supported by an increasingly favorable and highly convenient business environment and a globally leading intelligent manufacturing cluster, Shenzhen has established 33,000 new foreign-invested enterprises over the past five years, accounting for about 14.6 percent of the national total. The city has attracted about $40 billion in actual foreign investment during the same period, according to the Xinhua News Agency.

In the first half of this year, the city's total trade reached 2.17 trillion yuan ($303 billion), representing 9.9 percent of China's total trade during the same period. Since 1993, Shenzhen's export value has ranked first in the country every year, according to Xinhua, citing data from Shenzhen Customs.

Shenzhen's strong appeal to foreign enterprises is built on its ongoing commitment to high-level opening-up and an increasingly supportive business environment. The city has continuously streamlined administrative procedures and implemented policies that improve efficiency for investors. Initiatives such as one-stop business registration and tax incentives for high-tech and innovation-driven companies have made it easier for foreign firms to operate, expand and innovate.

Opening-up policies have encouraged multinational companies to establish factories and R&D centers in Shenzhen. This influx of capital, technology and management expertise has accelerated industrial upgrading. At the same time, Shenzhen provides foreign enterprises with access to world-class industrial clusters, abundant talent and high-level infrastructure, enabling them to tap into opportunities across the vast Chinese market.

Today, Shenzhen has upgraded into a globally leading hub for smart devices and new-energy industries. Foreign companies, like Apple, regard Shenzhen as a global center of innovation, rather than merely a supply chain alternative.

Apple has established a large-scale applied research lab in Shenzhen, its largest R&D facility outside the US, dedicated to testing and developing products, while emphasizing collaboration with local suppliers, according to media reports.

Shenzhen's integration with international supply chains has boosted both exports and technological upgrading. Rather than simply being a low-cost manufacturing base, the city becomes a hub of high-value production, innovation and trade, showing that openness can shift a local economy toward being an innovation-driven powerhouse.

Shenzhen's economic rise during the past 45 years vividly demonstrates the benefits of opening-up. It proves that foreign investment and access to global markets can catalyze rapid growth, policy facilitation can nurture innovation and integration into international trade networks can strengthen domestic technological capabilities.

Amid persistent global economic headwinds and rising protectionism, Shenzhen is leveraging its solid foundation to promote high-level opening-up. The city plans to continue expanding openness across key industries, including telecommunications, healthcare and artificial intelligence.

China in June unveiled new guidelines to deepen reform and expand opening-up at a higher starting point in Shenzhen. Opening-up measures cover the optimization and upgrading of goods trade, the boosting of services trade through innovation and the improvement of supporting mechanisms to facilitate the movement of people.

By leading with openness, Shenzhen is shaping a new model of mutually beneficial development, creating opportunities for collaboration and shared growth. The city's vast economic potential will continue to be unleashed, providing fertile ground for innovation, trade and high-tech advancement. Foreign enterprises that have actively invested in Shenzhen can seize substantial growth opportunities and participate in the city's ongoing transformation. Engaging in this dynamic ecosystem allows investors to share in the economic dividends generated by Shenzhen's continued reform and opening-up.

The author is a reporter with the Global Times. bizopinion@globaltimes.com.cn