Editor’s Note:
As we reflect on 2024, Shenzhen remains committed to advancing high-level opening up, actively integrating into the new development pattern, and attracting foreign investment. The “2024 in Review” special series highlights the city’s progress across various fields.
Shenzhen Daily和EyeShenzhen各平台正同步推出系列全媒体策划“回望2024”，回顾深圳在过去一年各领域取得的创新发展成就。
In 2024, Shenzhen prioritized advancing the integration of technological and industrial innovation. To build a comprehensive “city of innovation,” the city is guiding society to invest more in innovation while enhancing technology, higher education, and the industrial system.
在2024年，深圳牢牢抓住科技创新这个“牛鼻子”，推动科技创新和产业创新的融合发展，坚持以科技创新引领新质生产力发展，引导全社会加大创新投入，着力提升科技创新“硬核力”、高等教育“支撑力”、产业体系“竞争力”，全方位打造“创新之城”，加快形成具有全球竞争力的开放创新生态。
Honor’s mobile phone production factory in Shenzhen. Photo by Yang Haohan
In 2024, Shenzhen saw a boom in artificial intelligence (AI), unleashing incredible power to fuel basic research and drive industrial transformation. With a forward-looking strategy, Shenzhen has released nearly 200 “city + AI” applications, positioning itself as a global leader in AI innovation.
2024年，人工智能技术迎来大爆发，在赋能基础研究与驱动产业变革中展现出惊人力量。深圳前瞻布局，累计发布“城市+AI”场景近200个，打造全球人工智能先锋城市。
Innovative facilities
聚焦前沿：超4000家创新载体释放强大创新力
Shenzhen currently has more than 4,000 innovation facilities, providing the city with the capability and confidence to advance cutting-edge technology. These innovative facilities are making significant progress.
For example, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Comprehensive National Science Center is currently under construction. The Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation and the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory are working well and promoting deeper integration. The international headquarters of the Greater Bay Area National Center of Technology Innovation was launched in Shenzhen.
2024年，大湾区综合性国家科学中心建设深入推进，深圳医学科学院与深圳湾实验室一体化融合发展提速，国家第三代半导体技术创新中心深圳综合平台、鹏城实验室石壁龙园区以及合成生物研究、脑解析与脑模拟等大科学装置相继建成，粤港澳大湾区国家技术创新中心国际总部完成落户，国家分子药物创新中心获批组建……超4000家创新载体为深圳发力前沿科技添底气、增动力。
A total of 160 high-end science and innovation projects are being implemented within the Shenzhen Park of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone. The Hetao Shenzhen Park has formed six scientific and technology clusters for national major scientific research cooperation, unicorn companies in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and startups launched by young people from Hong Kong and Macao.
In Guangming Science City, a series of major scientific research infrastructure projects, including Pengcheng Cloud III and 11 platforms for cutting-edge cross-disciplinary research, have been developed.
在河套合作区，依托不断聚集的创新载体，160个高端科研项目先后落地，初步形成了国家重大科研合作、深港独角兽、港澳青年创业等“6大科创集群”；在光明科学城，布局建设了鹏城云脑Ⅲ、自由电子激光等一批重大科技基础设施和11个前沿交叉研究平台，创新要素正在持续集聚。
UBTECH’s industrial humanoid robot Walker S1 works in a BYD factory. Photo courtesy of UBTECH
R&D investment
自立自强：深企研发投入全国居首
On Oct. 22, 2024, Chinese tech giant Huawei released HarmonyOS Next, its self-developed operating system built independently of Android architecture, in Shenzhen. The operating system has shown significant improvements in fluency, performance, security, and other aspects.
2024年10月22日，我国首个国产移动操作系统、全球第三大移动操作系统——华为原生鸿蒙操作系统（HarmonyOS Next）在深圳正式发布。此次发布的原生鸿蒙操作系统在流畅度、性能、安全特性等方面提升显著，全面突破操作系统核心技术，实现系统底座的全部自主研发，也实现国产操作系统的自主可控。
The launch ceremony of the HarmonyOS Next in Shenzhen on Oct. 22, 2024. Photo by Xinhua
HarmonyOS Next is fully independent from Android and iOS, featuring its own operating kernel, programming language, AI framework, and other components developed without using Linux kernel or Android open-source code. On Nov. 26, Huawei launched its Mate 70 smartphone series, the first to be powered by its fully homegrown operating system, marking its official entry into commercial use.
原生鸿蒙操作系统在续航时间、安全和隐私保护等方面均位于行业前列。由于不依赖国外编程语言和操作系统内核等核心技术，被誉为“纯血鸿蒙”。11月26日，搭载原生鸿蒙操作系统的华为Mate 70系列手机正式发布，标志着华为原生鸿蒙操作系统正式进入商用阶段。
On Nov. 18, BYD’s 10-millionth new energy vehicle rolled off the assembly line at its production base in Xiaomo, Shenzhen. As BYD’s chairman and president Wang Chuanfu stated, it embodies the brand’s spirit of daring to think, create, and persevere to achieve what BYD is today. As of now, BYD has 11 research institutes and employs over 110,000 research and development (R&D) staff members. Its investment in R&D has exceeded 100 billion yuan.
2024年11月18日，比亚迪达成1000万辆新能源汽车下线，创造中国汽车发展史新的里程碑。正如比亚迪董事长王传福所说，“敢想、敢干、敢坚持，才让比亚迪走到了今天。”自2002年从动力电池技术起步，到打通新能源汽车产业链，比亚迪如今拥有11个研究院，超11万名研发人员，研发总投入超千亿元。
A Denza D9, BYD’s 10-millionth new energy vehicle, is rolled out in the company’s production base in Xiaomo Township, Shenzhen, on Nov. 18. Photo by Zou Yuan
Data show that Shenzhen’s investment in R&D reached 223.66 billion yuan (US$31.6 billion) in 2023, an increase of 18.9% year on year, marking the ninth consecutive year of double-digit growth. Expenditure on R&D by Shenzhen enterprises totaled 208.5 billion yuan, accounting for 93.3% of the city’s total investment in R&D.
The Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou cluster ranked second in the 2024 Global Innovation Index (GII), according to a release by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in August last year.
数据显示，2023年深圳R&D经费投入2236.61亿元，增长18.9%，连续9年实现两位数增长，总量；其中深圳企业研发投入达2085.8亿元，占比93.3%，规模居全国城市首位。世界知识产权组织发布的2024年全球创新指数（GII）百强科技集群名单中，“深圳—香港—广州”科技集群连续5年全球第二位。
At present, Shenzhen has 25,000 nationally recognized high-tech companies, making it the leading city in China for PCT international applications for 20 consecutive years.
目前，全市国家高新技术企业达2.5万家，深圳PCT国际专利申请量连续20年居全国大中城市首位。
Integration of innovation, industry, financing, talent
四链融合：前沿科技新兴产业重要策源地
Shenzhen has pushed forward the integration of innovation, industry, financing, and talent to create a system with innovation and industrial chains as its foundation and financing and talent chains as key supports, showcasing Shenzhen’s unique features and advantages.
深圳坚持“创新推动+产业拉动+资金带动+人才发动”协同发力，构建以创新链产业链为基础、资金链人才链为关键支撑的供给制度体系，发挥深圳特色和优势。
Based on the mechanism of the four chains of integration, Shenzhen has cultivated several strategic emerging industrial clusters focused on synthetic biology, optical information, cell and gene technology, quantum information, brain science and brain-computer engineering, the low-altitude economy, and intelligent robotics.
以“四链融合”为工作机制，深圳分类分步骤培育形成了合成生物、光载信息、细胞与基因、量子信息、脑科学与脑机工程、低空经济、智能机器人等一批具有极强领导力和影响力的战略性新兴产业和未来产业集群，成为前沿科技、新兴产业的重要策源地。
A computer-generated image of a site housing the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation and the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory in Guangming District.
Scientific and technological innovation is a crucial driving force for economic development, and talent is the core resource for scientific and technological innovation. Shenzhen is implementing increasingly proactive, open, and effective talent and innovation policies.
Currently, 920 Shenzhen scholars have been recognized on the list of the world’s top 2% of scientists. The city is home to 26,000 high-level talent, more than 220,000 returnees from studying abroad, and nearly 7 million talent from various fields.
科技创新是经济发展的重要驱动力，人才是科技创新的核心资源。深圳深入实施更加积极、更加开放、更加有效的人才和创新政策。目前，920名深圳学者入选全球前2%顶尖科学家榜单，全市高层次人才2.6万、留学回国人员超22万、各类人才总量近700万。
To support scientific and technological innovation, it is essential to utilize effective financial strategies. In 2024, Shenzhen released 20 measures for the financial support of scientific and technological innovation.
The city has established the Shenzhen Angel Investment Fund, which has a scale of 10 billion yuan. To date, the cumulative number of effective decision-making sub-funds has reached 84. The city has invested in 955 projects, fostering six “unicorns” and 188 “potential unicorns.”
Additionally, the city has established a scientific and technological innovation seed fund of 2 billion yuan. Furthermore, the Greater Bay Area Social Security Fund’s special fund for scientific and technological innovation, which has a scale of 5.1 billion yuan, was registered in Shenzhen.
支持科技创新，必须用好金融活水。2024年，深圳发布实施金融支持科技创新“20条”。设立规模100亿元的深圳天使投资母基金，截至目前累计有效决策子基金84支，已投资项目955个，培育出6个“独角兽”和188个“潜在独角兽”；设立20亿元的科技创新种子基金，规模51亿元的社保基金大湾区科技创新专项基金在深圳注册成立。
Read more “2024 in Review” stories:
2024 in Review ① | Shenzhen's opening up 回望2024·深圳开放大事
2024 in Review ② | Shenzhen's reforms 回望2024·深圳改革大事
2024 in Review ③ | Shenzhen's transportation 回望2024·客如云来 货如轮转
