Beijing (AFP)
The Chinese government on Sunday adopted a directive to make Shenzen a showcase of "Chinese-style socialism", which it wants to see by 2025 "at the top of the world's cities in terms of economic power and quality. of development ".
This promotion of the mega-city of 11 million people is a project perceived as shading its neighbor Hong Kong, where a new giant demonstration gathered Sunday hundreds of thousands of people.
Before 2035, the southern metropolis "will be in first place worldwide" in terms of global competitiveness, provides the document, published Monday by the Chinese press.
Originally a fishing village, Shenzhen has been developing for 40 years, taking advantage of its "Special Economic Zone" status to attract Hong Kong investments and export to the British administered territory until 1997.
The city now has more than 12 million inhabitants, against 7 million for Hong Kong.
The Chinese press did not fail to establish the rapprochement between the expected development of Shenzhen and the risk that would pose in Hong Kong continued unrest directed at the pro-Beijing executive.
"If Hong Kong is still not ready to embrace its chance to participate in the development of the country, its development will be very limited in the future, while Shenzhen will move at high speed," says an expert quoted by the English-language daily Global Times.
After two months of pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, China has seen the threat of armed intervention in the semi-autonomous territory in recent days.
However, experts believe that Beijing could refrain from such a decision, risky for Hong Kong's status as a world-class financial center.
© 2019 AFP