SHENZHEN, a city renowned for its efficiency in building skyscrapers, has once again come into the limelight for its rapid pace in high-quality development, according to a report from Xinhua News Agency.

The momentum is catalyzed by a sustained and steady increase in R&D investment by innovative enterprises, a service-oriented government, and the booming economic activities, said the report.

In the first half of 2018, Shenzhen’s innovation input maintained relatively rapid growth. Total investment in R&D grew by 15.4 percent to 47.63 billion yuan (US$6.85 billion), which accounted for more than 4 percent of the city’s GDP and has reached an internationally advanced level.

In 2017, Shenzhen saw 177,103 domestic patent applications, an increase of 21.89 percent year on year. Among these, 18,926 invention patents were authorized, an increase of 7.13 percent over the same period last year. It also means that more than 51 invention patents were authorized in Shenzhen every day.

Earlier this year, Shenzhen has launched a number of major reform measures, including a reform plan to streamline government approval procedures and the 20 measures to spearhead the reform of the business environment.

In order to facilitate cross-border trade, the total customs clearance time of port imports and exports have decreased by 13.9 percent and 42.8 percent, respectively. In particular, the “Shenzhen 90” reform has slashed the approval time of investment projects by more than two-thirds.

For a long time, Shenzhen has been committed to building a service-oriented government, streamlining administrative examination and approval, and optimizing the business environment. In 2017, 550,000 new businesses were registered in Shenzhen, which meant an average of more than 40,000 new businesses opened per month.

Currently, Shenzhen has more than 20,000 new-energy vehicles, with all buses powered by electricity. It is expected that all taxis operating in the city will be electric by 2020.

In 2017, Shenzhen’s energy and water consumption continued to decline, which accounted for about one-third and one-10th of the national average. The average concentration of PM2.5 per year was 28 micrograms per cubic meter, making Shenzhen one of the biggest cities with the best air quality in China.

(Zhang Yu)