While visiting a maker space in Shenzhen in January 2015, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stressed, “Maker spaces fully demonstrate vitality, entrepreneurship and innovation, which will be the driver of Chinese economic growth in the future.”

    Chinese leadership has made the development of creative entrepreneurship a policy priority. As a result, the country is now busy developing an ecosystem that is more business friendly for small creative companies as well as start-ups. It wants to encourage creative entrepreneurship in areas where China is already strong — information technology industries. In the process, the concept “maker space” has gained rapid popularity.

    A maker space is a community center that provides technology, manufacturing equipment and educational opportunities to the public to make things. Maker spaces allow community members to design, prototype and manufacture items using tools that would otherwise be inaccessible or unaffordable such as 3-D printers, digital fabrication machines and computer-aided design (CAD) software.

    Why choose Shenzhen for a maker space? The city established in 1979 is the fastest growing city in human history, evolving from a fishing village to a megalopolis of 14 million inhabitants squeezed between Guangzhou and Hong Kong. It is also one of the wealthiest cities in China. From 1979 to 2011, its average annual GDP growth rate was a staggering 25 percent. Shenzhen epitomizes 39 years of uninterrupted economic growth in China. It was the first free trade economic zone to test the opening up policy with the introduction of Chinese-style capitalism. The city hosts the largest market in the world for electronic components — Huaqiangbei. Shenzhen is the center of inexpensive electronic manufacturing capacities — circuit boards, drones, LEDs, liquid injection molds, etc. In 2014, the city boasted a US$10 billion investment in R&D, accounting for 4 percent of its GDP, a figure matched only by South Korea and Israel.

    In spite of its young age, the city already ranks fourth in economic power on the Chinese mainland and second in economic competitiveness. It is the high-tech and manufacturing hub of southern China, home to the world’s third-busiest container port and the fourth-busiest airport on the Chinese mainland. In a ranking of global city competitiveness, Shenzhen ranks second in economic strength and 25th in financial maturity. It is home to leading high-tech companies such as Huawei, Tencent and ZTE. The number of Shenzhen’s PCT (Patent Cooperation Treaty) applications has topped Chinese cities for 10 consecutive years. Shenzhen ranked fourth on Forbes’ 2013 list of innovative mainland cities.

    The maker movement is recent in China. As is often the case in China, the priority is economic: support creative start-ups at an early stage to identify future business winners. China has over 7 million college graduates every year.

    Maker spaces in Shenzhen are in effect large incubators, providing co-working space, mentoring, marketing and financial support for young entrepreneurs with ideas. They concentrate on ICT hardware and software development — 3-D printing, robots, drones, connected equipment, mobile apps and Internet of things. Their development and funding are supported by holding companies active in real estate, finance, construction or logistics. Such companies can nurture creative entrepreneurs, provide business training, and provide seed funding and investment capital at later development stages. In effect, the strength of the Shenzhen maker spaces lies in the integration of strong financial investment capacity to fund new businesses. This makes Shenzhen attractive to creative professionals worldwide looking for capital funding and affordable manufacturing. Shenzhen holds the second-largest stock exchange in the country.

    There are now more than 53 maker spaces in China — four are in Shenzhen. Their links with research centers and universities are developing fast. Shenzhen has been welcoming an international maker fair since 2013. Its 2015 edition was the largest in Asia.

    Shenzhen is building strong education institutions and training facilities specialized in supporting creative entrepreneurship. Shenzhen University is opening its international business school in 2016. In addition, the city is strengthening its cultural aspects, which lag behind neighboring cities. This is important to attract creative talents who will be looking for social amenities — restaurants, bars, music and art festivals — conducive to social interactions and fun. Art and culture stimulate creativity.

    A measure of public intervention could enable the city to take stock of the most promising initiatives, monitor and evaluate the impact of maker space on the economic fabric of the city, consider policies that would encourage maker space in taking a long-term vision inspired by the need to create an ecosystem not solely reliant on short-term profits. Public intervention will help to expand the role of maker spaces to encompass social innovation and harness creativity for social goals.