THREE years after opening in Longhua District beside the Shenzhen North Railway Station, one of southern China’s busiest rail hubs, the Longhua International Cooperation Center (LICC) says it has helped local companies secure more than 80 billion yuan (US$11 billion) in purchase orders and cooperation agreements in principle, while serving as a one-stop counter for foreigners living in the district.

As Shenzhen is gearing up for the 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting in November, the center has become Longhua’s main window to the region. According to the center, it has helped the district build working relationships with 20 APEC economies, including Malaysia and Australia.

The center said its network now reaches partners in more than 150 countries and regions, including more than 500 overseas institutions, trade associations and international organizations. About 250 exchange events are held at the center each year.

Helping firms go global

The center operates a showroom with six themed zones, displaying more than 200 products from nearly 200 Shenzhen companies. More than 700 delegations of foreign officials, journalists and business representatives from over 150 countries and regions have visited. Since the start of this year, the center said, showroom visits and follow-up matchmaking have produced more than 50 billion yuan in orders and cooperation agreements in principle.

It has also organized nearly 300 investment and industry events, which it said drew nearly 200,000 participants online and in person. LICC’s official WeChat account  “Intl Services Longhua” and miniprogram “LICC”  list more than 300 overseas projects and has supplied information to more than 10,000 companies.

Delegations led by the district government take companies abroad to more than 20 countries and regions each year. Longhua has also signed five friendship agreements with overseas districts since 2024, most recently with Malaysia’s Kedah state this year.

In 2024, a sustainable development innovation lab run by the U.N. Development Programme opened in Longhua. The center said it has used that connection to introduce local companies to U.N. procurement.

“This exhibition gave us a platform to show our strength,” said Chen Hua, general manager of Shenzhen Longhua Drainage Co., which presented a digital water-management exhibit at the World Urban Forum in November 2024.

The center also handles the APEC Business Travel Card, which allows frequent travelers visa-free entry to 16 economies for five years. Four employees of Dyu Intelligent Mobility Technology Company, a leading Shenzhen E-bike maker whose products sell in more than 60 countries, received cards in July.

A front desk for foreign residents

For foreign residents, the center bundles more than 500 services, including work and residence permits, temporary residence registration, tax queries and notarization. It offers simultaneous interpretation in 43 languages. Registration can be done by scanning a QR code or at the counter, with the same legal effect.

The center said it has handled 16,000 foreign-related cases for people from more than 70 countries and regions. Lawyers and notaries offer free weekly consultations. A Costa Rican employee who attended the 29th legal consultation day, asking about the labor rights of foreign women working in China, said she now understood her rights. “I’m very grateful,” she said.

A volunteer team of more than 100 people from over 70 countries and regions helps with translation and events. The center said it has held more than 160 cultural events that drew more than 15,000 participants from 100 countries.

Rita Giménez, a Spanish resident, first visited the center to handle paperwork. She later became a volunteer and helped connect Longhua with her home region, Navarra, which became a friendship partner in November 2025.

Musonda Mwaba, a foreign entrepreneur who arrived in Longhua in 2018, founded a trading company in 2024 and brought his family to live in the district. At a center event, he met a Zambian copper trader, which led to a new business partnership.

“Here I realized my dream and settled my family well,” Mwaba said.

Preparing for APEC

The center has trained frontline staff in foreign-affairs work and run foreign-language workshops. It said more than 18,000 incorrect or non-standard English signs have been corrected across the district.

In September, the center hosted the Seminar on APEC Technologies Empower Low Carbon Action (TELCA): Roadmaps, Accessibility, and Partnership, a key event of China’s APEC year that focuses on technology-enabled low-carbon action. Policymakers, experts and company representatives from 18 APEC member economies attended, and organizers launched a platform for low-carbon technology demonstrations. In July, The 2026 Asia-Pacific Digital & Intelligent Economy Sustainable Development Innovation Week co-organized by LICC drew nearly 200 guests from about 30 countries and regions.

The center said it plans to keep those mechanisms running after the APEC meetings end.

“Conferences have a schedule, but cooperation does not,” the center said in its account of the APEC preparations. Its stated aim is to turn the meeting’s attention into lasting ties.(Yang Mei)