AFTER 70 years of development, Bao’an has grown from an agricultural county to a core zone of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, said the Bao’an Daily.

Bao’an County was selected by Deng Xiaoping as the first special economic zone 40 years ago. Since then, Bao’an, with its pioneering spirit, has achieved a number of historic results. For example, it issued the first stock in China and saw the establishment of the first joint-equity enterprise on the Chinese mainland.

The Central Government unveiled a detailed guideline on supporting Shenzhen in the development of a pilot demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics this Aug. 18, which once again offered a great opportunity for Bao’an’s further development, according to the report.

Following this, Bao’an District now has three confirmed goals. First, cooperate with Qianhai to build a new international center of the city and build a model for a civilized city as well as a benchmark for the happiness of people’s livelihood. Second, serve as a core engine for implementing the strategy to develop the city’s western area, construct the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, promote integrated development of both the western and eastern areas of the Pearl River, and insist on furthering the reform and openingup. Finally, build a world-class advanced manufacturing industry cluster and innovation high land for high-quality development.

Forty years ago, Bao’an was only a place that manufactured products for other companies. Now, Bao’an has become an example of how to contribute to industrial innovation.

Last year’s Shenzhen robotics industry development white paper suggested that Bao’an had around 130 robotics enterprises, making up 39 percent of all the robotics companies in the city. Annual output exceeded 23 billion yuan (US$3.23 billion).

Last month, the first phase of the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center was completed. The center will be the world’s largest upon the completion of the second phase.

After five years, revenue from the exhibition industry will exceed 15 billion yuan, which will provide 135 billion yuan in additional revenue for relevant industries in surrounding areas.

As home to a large group of residents, Bao’an District has been working to improve residents’ livelihood.

In order to provide more medical service choices, Bao’an District has built the country’s first pure Chinese medicine hospital and founded the country’s first district-level traditional Chinese medicine development foundation to support the development of traditional Chinese medicine, which has so far raised 187 million yuan.

Bao’an also makes continuous efforts to treat water pollution to ensure a green environment for people. Moreover, the district has added 7,700 new school seats for compulsory education this year, including 2,310 for kindergartens, according to the report.  (Wang Jingli)