“Shenzhen’s development is marvellous. Its efficiency, achievements in innovation, creative spirit, pragmatism and energy are very impressive,” shared Han Yonghong, Vice Editor Chief of Lianhe Zaobao. This was her second visit to Shenzhen, with eighteen years having passed since her first visit.

On September 4th, Han and other journalists participating in the Southeast Asian Media Greater Bay Area Tour arrived in Shenzhen. They visited the Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub (‘E Hub’), China International Marine Containers (Group) Ltd. (CIMC) and Tencent’s headquarters as well as attending a symposium to explore how technology and innovation form part of the DNA of this ‘City of Innovation’.

A look into the latest innovation achievements at E hub

The journalists visit the Qianhai exhibition hall. [Photo by Will]

The first stop of the day was the E Hub in the Qianhai and Shekou area of the Guangdong Pilot Free Trade Zone. In the exhibition hall, the journalists were captivated by a motion capture camera able to lock on a target and follow it, the operation of which is all done via a mobile app.

Sun Jifei, Vice Editor in Chief of Indonesia Shang Bao, commended the product for its powerful functionality and said it could be of great help to journalists. Sun said he would return to the media group Shang Bao and strongly advise them to purchase a batch of these products for their journalists: he exchanged business cards with the camera product team.

Another highlight of this stop was an intelligent suitcase equipped with a sensor which automatically weighs the case and a fingerprint reader lock mechanism. The journalists tried the case out personally and Han Yonghong paid special attention to Hong Kong young entrepreneur Guo Weiqiang, co-founder of the company and interviewed him about his work and life in the city.

Mr. Sun Jifei tries on an automatic skateboard at the E Hub. [Photo by Will]

Innovation and entrepreneur platforms represented by E Hub have attracted a new generation of Hong Kong entrepreneurs to settle down in Shenzhen.

“In 2015 my team founded WALNUTT, with the aim of making WALNUTT a high-end technology brand. We established Product Research and Development and Product Test Departments in both Dongguan’s Songshan Lake area and Qianhai in Shenzhen, with just our Marketing Department staying located in Hong Kong,” said Henri Pang Yik-hang, founder of WALNUTT and a young man from Hong Kong.

“Shenzhen and Dongguan have competitive advantages in manufacturing while Hong Kong is a well-developed international city, so this strategy is ideal for us to expand our global footprint. The ability to combine these two elements shows the strength of the Greater Bay Area. I believe it will become a world-class bay area,” Henri Pang said.

CIMC’s self-developed mega projects launched in Southeast Asia

The journalists visit CIMC lab. [Photo by Will]

At the CIMC lab, the journalists first viewed a model of a piece of offshore drilling and production equipment, then got a further glimpse of the outdoor drilling platform using VR headsets, and inquired about CIMC’s development in Southeast Asia.

According to one staff member, CIMC has three drilling platforms in Malaysia. In 2014 CIMC’s first marshalling yard was established in Thailand’s largest port – Laem Charbang. In Indonesia, CIMC ENRIC built the world's first ever carrier vessel for compressed natural gas (CNG) for Perusahaan Listrik Negara. Malaysia’s three jack-up drilling platforms were manufactured by CIMC; CIMC worked with a Malaysian company to bid for a CNG fuelling station related facilities project tender.

In the future, CIMC will use its aquafarm platform to promote deep-sea farming technology throughout the wider Southeast Asian area in order to cope with issues of increasing marine fishing intensity and increasingly serious seawater pollution, among other things.

CIMC has spent ten years to realise its goal of 100% self-design and ownership of the intellectual property rights on its products. It is now one of the most advanced shipyards in the world, with one of its five R&D centers being located in Shenzhen.

Deepening international cooperation & innovation

Journalists pose for a group photo at Tencent. [Photo by Will]

On the afternoon, the media delegation paid a visit to Tencent’s headquarters in Yuehai, a sub district of Nanshan. They watched the almost science fiction-like promo video for the Tencent Data Center in southwest China's Guizhou province and tried out the new payment system launched by WeChat in August. Later they attended a symposium with government officials to learn more about the technology development in Shenzhen.

With the objective of becoming “a developed and international innovation city”, “a hub of innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity with international influence” and “a global benchmark”, Shenzhen not only attaches great importance to innovation in technology but is also expanding the depth and breadth of international cooperation by establishing overseas innovation centres. Shenzhen will continue to seek out and implement international technology projects, and especially to fund cooperative research and development and relevant exchange activities, in particular the Shenzhen-Israel R&D Cooperation Program.

Yuehai, home to some of China's biggest names in technology, has awed the world. Tencent’s original headquarters is located here and Tencent, ZTE and DJI all made their names here.

Data shows that 3,579 national high-tech companies are now located in Nanshan District, with 154 of them being publicly listed companies either at home or abroad. Last year, the added value from strategic and emerging industries in Nanshan and total R&D spending accounted for 60% and 4.71% of its GDP respectively. The number of international patent applications under the PCT accounted for 39% of Shenzhen’s total.

Journalists’ opinions of the GBA trip

Mr. To Le Minh is interviewed by local media in Shenzhen. [Photo by Will]

Tan Dawn Wei, the China Bureau Chief of The Straits Times, pointed out that the GBA’s development will bring huge opportunities to neighbouring countries and regions, especially those Southeast Asia. Tan said she would report the gratifying changes that are happening across the GBA to the people in Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries. She hopes everyone can find a win-win outcome.

To Le Minh, chief reporter of the Vietnam People's Newspaper’s Beijing Permanent Office told our reporter that he was amazed by Qianhai’s development and believes this is a great example of development for his country to follow.

Sun Jifei, Vice Editor in Chief of Indonesia Shang Bao, said that Shenzhen is developing rapidly and playing a leading role in the GBA, guiding the industries of some neighbouring cities. He thinks that in the near future, young people from Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia will begin to be attracted to move to Shenzhen and other GBA cities to start up businesses.

Author: Monica Liu

Editors: Wing Zhang, Simon Haywood

Video: Luo Zhongming, Wu Zejia

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东南亚网媒走进深圳，惊叹大湾区科技创新“very impressive”

南方网讯（记者欧阳妍 胡南 梁惠敏 魏申 尹珏文 摄影记者 罗钟鸣 吴泽嘉）“深圳的发展令人非常惊叹，‘very impressive’！这个城市的效率、企业的创新成果、人的创新精神和实干精神，处处都让人感觉到这里非常有活力！” 9月4日，新加坡《联合早报》副总编辑韩咏红随“活力湾区 世界共享”东南亚主流网络媒体湾区行联合采访团，时隔18年后，再次踏上深圳这片热土时发出以上感叹。

当天，采访团先后走访了前海深港青年梦工场、中集海洋工程实验室、腾讯公司等，并与市、区相关职能部门召开座谈会，了解这座创新创业创意之都背后蕴含的科创基因。

深度体验香港青年前海筑梦创新成果

今天参观的首站是前海蛇口自贸片区。走进位于自贸片区的前海深港青年梦工场，人才驿站、创新工坊、创意展厅，一栋栋建筑整齐排列；便利店、单车停放区等配套设施齐全，为创新创业人才提供了完善的创业生活环境。在创意展示厅内，一台运动捕捉摄像机吸引采访团驻足了解。“这台摄像机可以锁定目标，跟随目标的运动轨迹实时进行拍摄，全程只需要用手机APP即可操作。”

印度尼西亚《商报》副总编辑孙继飞在前海深港青年梦工场试玩自动滑板。

听完产品开发团队的介绍，印度尼西亚《商报》副总编辑孙继飞感慨：“这款产品简直是记者的福音！”他表示，采访经常需要提问、摄像、录音同时进行，必须配备充足人手，但有了这款产品，记者一人便可以完成采访任务。说罢他还与产品团队交换了联系方式，笑称“我要建议报社团购一批，让我们的记者工作更便利。”

同样吸引采访团眼球的还有一款智能行李箱，箱内设有传感器，可以拎起即称重，还可以进行指纹解锁。采访团成员们饶有兴趣的进行体验，并不时与讲解人员交流产品的售价、发售日期、产品性能等问题。当得知团队联合创始人之一郭玮强是香港籍人士时，联合早报的副总编辑韩咏红就“前海对香港创业青年有什么优惠政策、为何选择来深圳创业”等问题进行了深入交流。

自主创新推动“大国重器”走向东南亚

离开梦工场，走进中集海洋工程实验室，展厅中央的一台海洋钻采设备模型映入眼帘。实验室相关负责人介绍：“这是2017年中国在南海海域第一次进行可燃冰商用试采所使用的设备模型，目前亚洲仅有新加坡、韩国及中国可以生产此类设备，该设备多应用于海洋石油、可燃冰等海洋资源的开采，在东南亚国家和地区有着得天独厚的发展优势，市场前景广阔。”

在实验室2楼，采访团成员通过VR互动设备体验中集海工建造的户外开采设备。记者们对中集海工在东南亚国家和地区的业务布局发展情况十分关注。据介绍，中集海工在马来西亚已有三座钻采平台；2014年，中集首个海外堆场项目也落户泰国第一大港——林查班港；在印尼，中集安瑞科为印尼国家电力公司建造了世界首艘压缩天然气运输船……未来，中集海工还计划利用海洋牧场平台将深海养殖技术推广到更多东南亚国家和地区，解决海洋捕捞强度不断增大，海域水质污染日益严重等问题。

品味腾讯“穿越”未来的科技感

采访团在腾讯公司合影。

提到软件信息产业及科技创新，自然离不开腾讯公司。当天下午，采访团走进位于深圳市南山区的腾讯滨海大厦，开展了一场科技创新体验之旅。在腾讯视听影院，采访团成员认真观看了科技感十足的贵安七星数据中心介绍视频。藏在一座山下的数据基地、7×24小时安检机器人、高敏烟雾探测仪……记者们纷纷感叹：“以往在电影大片中看到的情节竟然在这里一一实现，一瞬间有一种穿越的感觉，仿佛自己不是置身于现在，而是已经在未来了”。

在随后召开的座谈会上，采访团认真听取了深圳市、南山区等相关职能部门的情况介绍并交流互动，同时，腾讯微信支付团队还现场展示了上月刚刚发布的微信青蛙pro刷脸支付系统，引发采访团成员的热议并纷纷亲身体验。

湾区之行引发外媒热议点赞

越南《人民报》主任记者苏黎明接受深圳媒体采访。

聊起连日来的紧张行程，采访团的记者们均表示“不虚此行”，对粤港澳大湾区的发展，大家纷纷热议点赞。新加坡《海峡时报》驻北京站站长陈丹薇表示，粤港澳大湾区的发展将给周边国家和地区，尤其是东南亚带来巨大的机遇，希望能把粤港澳大湾区正在发生的可喜变化，传达给新加坡和其他东南亚地区人们，希望大家共同来思考如何合作达到双赢甚至多赢的局面；越南《人民报》主任记者苏黎明虽然汉语表达不太流利，但面对采访镜头，他表示，非常惊讶前海的发展，这对自己国家的发展有很大的借鉴作用；印度尼西亚《商报》副总编辑孙继飞在接受深圳媒体采访时表示，粤港澳大湾区是中国重大发展战略，而深圳起到一个带头作用，本身发展很快，对周边一些城市，甚至部分地区的行业引领都具有举足轻重的作用。相信不久的将来，包括印尼在内的东南亚国家年轻人都会被吸引前往深圳等地创新创业。