Shenzhen looks to Singapore to solve its problems

SHENZHEN – The last time Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was in Shenzhen some 20 years ago, it took him four to five hours to travel by car from the city to Guangzhou. This time, it took him just 36 minutes travelling from Guangzhou to Shenzhen by the high speed rail, Mr Lee said as he noted the rapid development of the city during a meeting today with Shenzhen Party Secretary Wang Rong.

“In 1991, it was a completely different Shenzhen, one tenth of its population and a fraction of its size and sophistication,” he said.

Mr Lee described Mr Wang as an old friend who was involved in the Suzhou Industrial Park – a project between the China and Singapore Government. Before the meeting, Mr Lee visited Lotus Hill to view the city’s skyline as well as an exhibition on its development and future plans.

He told Mr Wang that he was impressed with how the city has changed, and its plans for renewing and rejuvenating activities while working within the constraints of a 1,900 sq km area.

Alluding to his time working with Singaporeans in Suzhou, Mr Wang said that when he was first posted to Shenzhen in 2009, he felt that there was “a lot to learn from Singapore”. “Because (Shenzhen) is the most similar to Singapore among all the other Chinese cities, whether in terms of its economic development or infrastructure,” he said. Mr Wang said he has been getting advice from experts in Singapore for Shenzhen’s infrastructure development. In particular, he said that with the rapid development of Shenzhen and the burgeoning of its population to 15 million today, problems have arisen and he hopes to learn from Singapore on the “management of society”. He added: “We have always been getting a lot of support from Singapore, in terms of funding, management or administration and planning.”

Mr Lee noted that many groups of Shenzhen officials have visited Singapore. “We have been very happy to have this exchange and to be able to learn from each other,” he said.