Shenzhen in cross hairs of US tech curbs, but Huawei’s home still tops Beijing and Shanghai in first-quarter growth
- The southern Chinese city of Shenzhen reported year-on-year economic growth of 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, beating Shanghai and Beijing
- Shenzhen is the home of electric vehicle manufacturer BYD, tech giant Huawei Technologies, internet services firm Tencent and drone maker DJI
China’s Silicon Valley posted the highest economic growth among top-tier mainland cities in the first quarter, underlining Shenzhen’s tenacity and strength in the face of intensifying pressure from the United States to contain the nation’s tech development.
Driven by stronger-than-expected growth in the electric vehicle sector, the home city of BYD reported year-on-year economic growth of 6.5 per cent in the first quarter, beating Shanghai and Beijing, after its gross domestic product (GDP) reached 777.2 billion yuan (US$112.5 billion) in the first three months of the year.
Its strong performance offers China’s tech industry hope that it can withstand the relentless pressure from Washington, which has continued to impose restrictions on its technology exports since the start of the year, with the Shenzhen-based Huawei Technologies at the centre of the curbs.
With the increasingly hostile regulatory system … it is not fully clear whether private entrepreneurs will be as incentivised as in the past to innovate.
Alicia Garcia-Herrero, the chief economist for Asia-Pacific at Natixis, said Shenzhen clearly has “huge potential” in terms of advanced technology and biotech, but its success also depends on “two local factors” that go beyond the “usual suspect” of US containment.
