The inaugural event was held on Monday 19 March in the presence of more than 60 guests including Didier Boschung, Consul General of Switzerland in Guangzhou, representatives of the Municipality of Shenzhen, distinguished journalists and members of the Swiss-Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
The new office will allow the GGBa to better cover the south of the country. The region surrounding the Pearl River Delta covers an area of approximately 200,000 km2 and has a population of 50 million. “Shenzhen is home to many high-added-value companies, whether in the health, finance or precision industry," says Thomas Bohn, executive director of the GGBa. “Having a permanent presence in the city will allow us to build closer relations with the local innovation players, which are our priority targets.”
The astonishing rise of Shenzhen
Formerly a small fishing village in the vicinity of Hong Kong, Shenzhen has experienced an unprecedented development over the past 30 years, under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping and its policy of economic openness. Today, the city is known as China’s Silicon Valley, with a proliferation of high-potential technology startups and the presence of industry giants such as DJI, ZTE, Huawei or Tencent.
In 2015, the Chinese city and the canton of Bern signed a twinning agreement aimed at establishing close economic cooperation. Shenzhen is particularly interesting because of its strengths in the precision industry, electronics and telecommunications, as well as medical technologies.
