China Emerging_ 1978-2008 - Xiao-bo , Wu [8]
most vital “economic engine” in China.
Deng Xiaoping coined a new term, “Special Economic Zone,” with this location in mind. The crux of the concept was that such a zone took precedence in terms of policies. In fact, as early as the end of 1978, Deng Xiaoping had declared that it was all right to “let some cities get rich first.” Not many people took note at the time that when he mentioned a dozen names, the first on the list was a place called Shenzhen. Shenzhen was separated from the most capitalistic city on earth by one small river. For Deng Xiaoping to choose this place to serve as a “breakthrough in opening up” was undeniably taking new risks. This was also another instance of him “feeling for the stones with your feet as you cross the river.” The idea of Special Economic Zones signified that he was beginning to explore a path of “gradual reform with Chinese characteristics,” by choosing the lesser of the two evils. Since “heaven is high and the emperor far away,” the coastal areas of the southeast were far removed from the interior and only weakly influenced by the planned economy. The feeling was that even if the experiment failed, it would not be a major problem.
Shenzhen’s tremendous changes have provided a lively background to the dramatic stories of the early migrants to this place—people from all over China who came to make their fortunes.
When the region was first given permission to become a Special Economic Zone, the state allocated a sum of RMB 30 million toward its development. This amount was hardly enough to develop two square kilometers, while Shenzhen at the time measured fifty kilometers from east to west and included a total of 327.5 square kilometers. “Three-connects and one-leveling” is the conventional way of reckoning development costs in China: connecting water, electricity, and roads and leveling the land. In order to pay for these, Shenzhen thought of a way better than government
Party Secretary of Guangdong Province, Ren Zhong-yi (left), receives a report from Yuan Geng (squatting in the center) at Shekou, Shenzhen, in June 1982.
“Time is money. Efficiency is your lifeline.” This motto, which first appeared in Shekou, shocked many people and overturned long-held concepts.
allocations: It would turn the land into money. On January 1, 1980, land-use rights for the first piece of land in Shenzhen were leased for money. At that time, this was widely considered as “selling out the country.” Finally, someone found a reference in Lenin’s Collected Works that referred to the conditions under which leasing might be considered acceptable. “During the transition period, it is not absolutely necessary for housing, factories, and so on to be handed over to individuals or cooperatives for their use without any payment in return. At the same time, eliminating a private system of ownership of land does not require eliminating the leasing of land. It merely requires that the form of land use is changed in a way that continues to transmit the benefits to society.” The cadres in Shenzhen at that time could recite this line by
heart. In 1982, Yuan Geng, the founder of the Shekou Special Economic Zone in Shenzhen erected a massive plate on the gate of the Management Commission of Shekou. “Time is money. Efficiency is your lifeline.” The plate’s motto traveled swiftly throughout China to become the iconic phrase of change in China.
Leasing land brought with it an endless stream of wealth, and Hong Kong businessmen were the first to taste its sweetness. Land-use fees in Shenzhen were roughly one-eleventh the price of land across the river in Hong Kong. Shenzhen used this money to level hills, fill in valleys, start postal services, and build roads, electric power lines, and water mains. From 1980–1985, Shenzhen’s actually utilized foreign investment totaled RMB 1.28 billion.