UNLEASH, a global innovation lab for achieving the United Nations' sustainable development goals, attracts top talents from various countries to Shenzhen in 2019. LIU XUDONG/FOR CHINA DAILY

Another Hong Kong resident surnamed Cheung has also chosen to work in Shenzhen. "The slow pace of life here fascinates me. I can go for a walk along the seashore after work and enjoy delicious food in the ancient town on weekends," she told People's Daily. Cheung works as a public servant in Shenzhen's Dapeng New District.

It's hard to imagine that only about four decades ago, Shenzhen was "a vast expanse of desolate land", recalled Duan Yabing. He was a member of the Infrastructure Construction Division of the People's Liberation Army sent to Shenzhen to support its construction in 1979.

"But based on the central government's policies (for Shenzhen at that time), I believed this place would go somewhere," Duan was quoted as saying by China National Radio.

As one of the pioneers of China's reform and opening-up, Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, has grown into an international metropolis, attracting professionals from around the world to exchange ideas and realize dreams. CHINA DAILY

Shenzhen's development in later years proved Duan right. The city's GDP increased from 270 million yuan ($41.7 million) in 1980 to nearly 2.77 trillion yuan in 2020, which was next only to Shanghai and Beijing.

Despite the COVID-19 outbreak last year, Shenzhen delivered a 3.1 percent increase in GDP over the previous year.

In February 2019, the Chinese government released a development blueprint for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Shenzhen was listed as one of the four central cities to drive the development of the Bay Area.

In 2020, the Chinese government issued a plan to implement pilot reforms in Shenzhen to build the city into a demonstration area of socialism with Chinese characteristics over the next five years.

The per capita disposable income of Shenzhen residents has grown at an average annual rate of 7.8 percent over the last five years, reaching 64,900 yuan in 2020.

While achieving economic growth, Shenzhen's energy consumption per unit of GDP is also one of the lowest among large and medium-sized cities in China, Nanfang Daily reported.

"Shenzhen is working to gather more high-end resources, enterprises and talent to accelerate its progression to a higher position along the global value chain and become a powerful engine driving the growth of the Bay Area," said Wang Weizhong, Party secretary of the city.