ABSTRACT
In recognition of Shenzhen's importance as a pioneer city for attracting early foreign investment to China following proclamation of the 'reform and opening' movement in 1978, and its science and technology industrial park (designed as a national model for domestically generated economic dynamism), examination of this area is split into two chapters. This first highlights Shenzhen's attraction for foreign companies, while Chapter 9 examines its role as a leading site for domestic technology commodification. Sections in each of those chapters detail the areas of theoretical interest outlined in Chapter 2: • Characteristics that make a particular place attractive to a science
and technology park-based economic cluster • The types of firms attracted to that industrial district, and case
studies of some of these firms or prominent actors • How these firms in turn gave each place a particular character or
niche in a domestic and/or global production chain • The types of networks constructed in that place, and whether they
indicate a 'learning district' or 'satellite branch' or some other mode of interaction
• The role of this location in integrating China into a global economic system
The separate treatment of Shenzhen as the site of both a 'multinational development zone' (Chapter 3) and a 'local innovation learning zone' (Chapter 9) presage the finding that two tracks of development are occurring in China, which occasionally intersect in space but often operate with important distinctions.
