SHENZHEN will establish a design college and a design training center as part of its strategic effort to build the city into a "city of design."

"Designs in different categories should be another driving force following the high-tech industry for the city's innovation capability growth," said Wang Jingsheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Shenzhen Municipal Committee of the CPC, at the inauguration of the 2005 Shenzhen Design Forum yesterday.

The forum, organized by Shenzhen University and the Shenzhen Municipal Culture Bureau, kicked off the Shenzhen Design Month, during which seven exhibitions and forums on commercial design will be staged.

Twelve well-known designers including Craig Hodgetts, Jazuo Sugiyama and Andrew Summers attended the forum.

The designers will cover a range of topics like the government's role in design, urban lifestyle and fashion design, design education and design culture.

"Design is becoming more important for economic growth and quality of life, and the forum will serve a platform for exchanges in design businesses and will promote the city's drive in constructing a 'city of design,'" said Andrew Summers, former chief executive of the British Design Council, at the opening ceremony.

The city now has a team of more than 20,000 design professionals and their works have earned Shenzhen wide recognition.

In the field of graphic design, 60 percent of the country's professionals are working in Shenzhen, while two of the six members from China in the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) are from the city.

Shenzhen still has much room for growth in the sectors of industrial design, garment design and interior design, according to Wang.

Currently there are 10 professional industrial design companies in Shenzhen. Most designers are affiliated to large firms. More than 600 brand-name garment companies, about 20 percent of the country's total, call Shenzhen home.

Editor: Wing