A GROUP of government officials from China visited Ireland in 1980 seeking inspiration for the special economic zones in Shenzhen and other cities that have become a major driving force for the country’s economic boom, according to China Daily.

The eight Chinese officials went to the mid-west of Ireland at a time when Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was considering his options for energizing China’s economy. Deng wanted to learn how other countries developed their economies and sent a delegation on a world tour to see how special economic zones worked elsewhere.

Established in 1959, Shannon Free Zone is widely known as the world’s first free trade zone with special tax incentives and simple customs procedures to attract foreign investment.

After touring several other countries, the Chinese delegation arrived in Shannon and attended a three-week training program on how to set up an industrial free trade zone, during which they were introduced to the world’s first duty-free shop and a special zone based on low taxes and free trade.

Brian Callanan, former strategic planning officer at Shannon Development, told China Daily that in his recollection, the training program consisted of classroom sessions and site visits. In the class, the Chinese visitors were introduced to the layout of the industrial stage, the physical infrastructure and the design of the incentives.

The Chinese Government subsequently opened four special economic zones in 1980 based on the Shannon model, the paper said. These became a major driving force for China’s economy, allowing private investment to flow into the country and for a huge transfer of skills and technology to take place.

The establishment of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, the first town modeled on Shannon, was a turning point for China’s economy.

Tom Carroll, the former manager of the development cooperation program in Shannon, was also involved in the training for the Chinese delegation in 1980. He told the newspaper: “When I visited Shenzhen in the mid-1980s, I was kind of overwhelmed because this was one enormous building site. We were driving for about 30 to 45 minutes, and it was nothing but development, so that made a huge impression on me.”

Once a small fishing village, the city of Shenzhen now has a population of at least 12 million and has grown to have a GDP larger than that of Ireland, exceeding 2.24 trillion yuan (US$324 billion) in 2017.  (SD-Agencies)