Yuan Geng:Father of Shekou

by+Xu+Shuyuan

April 21， 2015， was a busy day for Sihai Teahouse in Sihai Park of Shekou， Shenzhen， Guangdong Province. The teahouse hosted a photo exhibition， Me and Yuan Geng， to celebrate the 98th birthday of Yuan Geng， and locals contributed by lighting candles and sending their blessings.

When it comes to proving grounds of Chinas economic reform and opening-up campaigns， people often turn to Shekou in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone （SEZ） and of course Yuan Geng， who led the great undertaking. Hailed as “pioneer of reform and opening-up，” Yuan served as the first to operate Shekou， a“special zone” within the SEZ. He hence became the spokesman of the Shekou spirit as well as its creator.

Heaps of things had to be done before China could enact its reform and opening-up policies. Decision makers still argued fiercely over market-oriented economy versus planned economy even though the Chinese government had pulled order out of chaos and confirmed its shift in focus to economic development.

In October 1975， Yuan Geng， then deputy director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs under the Ministry of Communications， was dispatched by Minister Ye Fei to investigate Hong Kong- based China Merchants Group. During his stay there， Yuan keenly realized that the source of economic growth lied on the mainland even though Hong Kong remained the major economic stage. To minimize the costs considering expensive Hong Kong real estate， he formulated a plan to establish an industrial district in Shekou， a neighbor of Hong Kong， to fuse mainland advantages of cheap land and labor with Hong Kongs funds， sophisticated technology and raw materials.

Yuan handed over a report after his investigation sated with plenty of ideas for the blueprint of Chinas economic reform and opening-up policies.

On the map of Hong Kong enclosed with his report， then vice premier Li Xiannian of the State Council circled Nantou Peninsula and declared， “Its yours.” It was there that Yuan built the Shekou Industrial Park （SIP）， nicknamed “Circled SIP，” spanning an area of 2.14 square kilometers.

On July 2， 1979， groundbreaking for the SIP commenced， and the sea was filled with stones of the mountains demolished， kicking off the countrys reform and opening-up and giving birth to a “test tube” injecting foreign ingredients into Chinas traditional economic system.

Over the 14 years of his tenure， Yuan Geng witnessed his“baby” grow from an industrial park with an investment of HK$60 million to an industrial kingdom worth over 20 billion yuan by the 1990s. At that time， Shekous per capita gross domestic output was US$50 million， on a par with the Four Asian Tigers.

More significantly， Shekou served as a window for the countrys economic reform and opening-up， navigating economic development with a brand-new pattern and path.

Yuan Geng established China Nanshan Development （Group） Incorporation， Chinas first Sino-foreign joint venture implementing a shareholding system， and China Merchants Bank， the first joint-stock commercial bank on Chinas mainland， and initiated the founding of Ping An Insurance Company of China， the first joint-stock insurance company on the Chinese mainland. Yuan is still proud of his many other creations： China International Marine Containers （Group） Co.， Ltd.， CSG Technology Holding Co.， Ltd.， Shenzhen Chiwan Wharf Holdings Limited， and China Nanshan Development （Group） Incorporation.

Some have compared Yuan to the sculptor Michelangelo due to his profound ideas in shaping the industrial park which has played such a key role in Chinas progress in social reform. His story is inspiring to all， as much as his credo： Dare to play， dont fear failure or look back—simply move forward.