ABSTRACT
Shenzhen's position as a 'local innovation learning zone' is quite distinct from that of previously profiled Beijing, which as the capital city benefits from the presence of China's most prestigious, long-established research institutions. The very newness of the 'Shenzhen Science and Technology Industrial Park', established on largely rural agricultural land like Hong Kong a century before, posed problems for an area avowedly dedicated to technology development: it lacks anything like a premier research university to serve as the innovation generating institution. Shenzhen municipal and industrial park authorities attempted to remedy this situation by luring a number of faculty from Beijing based universities (particularly Tsinghua) to the ostensibly sunnier, warmer, less congested and less polluted setting of Shenzhen University. Other avenues to provide access to top level research institutions and laboratories are under construction, but the need is still felt.
