Shenzhen is the "experimental field" for China's economic reforms and opening up to the rest of the world. It has taken the lead in China in establishing a socialist market economy, a stunning development in the history of industrialization, urbanization and modernization across the globe. This has make Shenzhen a showcase for the country's accomplishments in economic reforms and opening up over the past three decades.

Import and Export

The city's total import and export volume in 2006 reached US$237.411 billion, up 29.9 percent over the previous year. Of that, the export volume totaled US$136.1 billion, up 34.1 percent; and the import volume was US$101.303 billion, up 24.6 percent. Shenzhen has ranked in first place among China's large and medium-sized cities in terms of total export volume for the past 14 consecutive years.

Foreign Investment

Foreign investment in Shenzhen mainly covers industries such as electronics and communications, electric machinery, textiles and clothing, food, pharmaceuticals, metal products, real estate, transportation and catering. The actual direct foreign investment totaled US$3.269 billion in 2006, up 10.1 percent over the previous year.
Shenzhen prioritizes the importance of taking advantage of foreign investment to develop the city's high-tech and capital-intensive industries. At present, the key fields for foreign investment are practical industrial projects driven by the automobile and petroleum industries.

Foreign-invested Enterprises

So far, foreign investment in Shenzhen derives from more than 90 countries and regions. By the end of 2006, a total of 141 multinationals on the Fortune 500 list had invested in Shenzhen.

Global Top 500 Enterprises That Have Invested in Shenzhen

Name	Country		Name	Country
Mitsui & Co., Ltd	Japan		Tennessee	United States
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation	Japan		Bristol-Myers 1 Squibb	United States
Sanyo Electric Ltd	Japan		Ingersoll-Rand Company Limited	United States
Itochu Corporation	Japan		Harris	United States
Marubeni Corporation	Japan		Kodak	United States
Nissho Iwai Corporation	Japan		McDonald's	United States
Hitachi	Japan		Wal-Mart	United States
Panasonic Electric Industrial Co., Ltd	Japan		AIG	United States
Toshiba	Japan		Citigroup	United States
Sony	Japan		Philip Morris Products Inc	United States
Nichimen	Japan		Johnson Controls	United States
Fujitsu	Japan		Sears Roebuck	United States
Dainippon Ink Chemicals,Inc	Japan		Fed Express	United States
Toppan Printing	Japan		Sara Lee	United States
Ricoh	Japan		Shell	Britain
Canon	Japan		United Biscuits	Britain
Nippon Steel Trading Co., Ltd.	Japan		Kingfisher	Britain
Jusco	Japan		Courtaulds	Britain
Sumitomo Corporation	Japan		British American Tobacco	Britain
Sumitomo Bank	Japan		HSBC Holdings	Britain
Mitsubishi Corporation	Japan		Honeywell	United States
Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group	Japan		Arrow	United States
AEON	Japan		Samsung Electronics	S. Korea
Man Roland Ltd.	Germany		Philip	Holland
Fuji Bank	Japan		Holland Bank	Holland
Sanwa Bank	Japan		Holland International Group	Holland
Tokyo Marine & Fire Insurance	Japan		Samsung	S. Korea
NEC (Electronics)	Japan		Hyundai	S. Korea
Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd	Japan		SK	S. Korea
Kanematsu	Japan		Lufthansa	Germany
Nippon Steel Corporation	Japan		Siemens	Germany
IBM	United States		Dresdner Bank	Germany
DuPont	United States		Danone	France
Texaco	United States		Alcatel	France
HP-Compaq	United States		Thomson	France
Whirlpool	United States		Carrefour	France
Pepsi	United States		BNP Paribas Bank	France
Intel	United States		Societe Generale	France
General Electric	United States		Credit Lyonnais	France
ABB	Switzerland		Dow Chemical	United States
Nestle	Switzerland		Xerox	United States
Nortel	Canada		Digital Equipment	United States
Dunlop	Australia		UTC	United States
Flextronics	Singapore		Morgan	United States
Yihe Trade Company	hongkong,china		Emerson	United States
China Telecom	China		Oracle	United States
Solectron Corporation	United States		Tyco International	United States
Epstein	United States		TDK Semiconductor Office	United States
Sodexho Branch	United States		CIGNA Corporation	United States

Sister Cities

Shenzhen has increased its friendly exchanges and cooperation with the outside world. It has become known to more and more people globally. Since 1986, Shenzhen has established sister city relationships with 11 cities or regions around the world, including Houston, United States; Brescia, Italy; Brisbane, Australia; Poznan, Poland; Vienne, France; Kingston, Jamaica; Lome, Togo; Nuremberg, Germany; Walloon Brabant, Belgium; Tsukuba, Japan; and Gwangyang, South Korea. Friendly exchanges cover various fields such as economy, technology, environmental protection, culture, sports, education, health care, urban planning and management.

International Investment

While taking advantage of foreign investment, the city's enterprises also strive towards breaking into global markets. By the end of 2006, Shenzhen had set up 367 enterprises or business organizations in more than 80 countries or regions with an accumulative investment totaling US$1.5 billion.