The city of Shenzhen was appointed as a UNESCO City of Design in November 2008.
Shenzhen is a major design hub and one of the leading cities in China. The city, once an ordinary border town neighboring Hong Kong, was chosen as China's first special economic zone on August 26th, 1980. As the vanguard spearheading China's reform and opening up policy, the city is regarded as the model for the country's economic success over the past three decades. Shenzhen itself was "designed" by Deng Xiaoping, the chief architect of the policy.
The concept of modern Chinese design was gradually created in Shenzhen and has increasingly become a part of the city residents’ lives.
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