This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. To mark the occasion, we are publishing a series of reports celebrating the city’s achievements in different aspects over the past four decades.

WHILE governments have the enormous task of fostering an environment where entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises can thrive, the availability of electricity is a prerequisite for the life of a business.

According to a business environment assessment report issued by the National Development and Reform Commission in 2019, Shenzhen was among the top performers in terms of electricity availability in the country, Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

“In Shenzhen, we can enjoy a high-quality power supply without having our own substation,” said Li Jianhua, deputy general manager of Shenzhen STS Microelectronics Co. Ltd., a leading provider of semiconductor manufacturing services in China.

According to Li, semiconductor enterprises have very high requirements for power quality. “However, we need to build our own internal transformer substations in our factories in other countries,” Li told the Daily.

Li said he has been very satisfied with the quality of the power supply and customer service during the cooperation with Shenzhen Power Supply Bureau (SPSB), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid (CSG), over the past two decades.

During the COVID-19 epidemic, SPSB reduced electricity cost that is expected to exceed 2 million yuan (US$281,404) for the company, according to Li.

In 2019, SPSB released CSG’s first white paper on optimizing its power supply. In a bid to help Shenzhen build a market-oriented, law-based and international first-class business environment, it moved to provide power supply services that are more convenient, less expensive, more transparent, more reliable and more intelligent.

Last year, SPSB reduced electricity costs by 1.45 billion yuan in total for industrial and commercial enterprises. In cooperation with the government, it provided 5.04 billion yuan in electricity subsidies to industrial and commercial enterprises.

To keep the city running during the COVID-19 epidemic, SPSB launched a slew of measures to help customers cut costs, ensuring the smooth resumption of work and production.

From February to April this year, it has saved 1.2 billion yuan for customers, according to statistics.

(Zhang Yu)