Thirty-five years ago, an important decision was made concerning Shenzhen. The city on the southern coast of Guangdong province became the first economic special zone of China, and the reforms pioneered there led to the country adopting the market system and becoming the second-largest economy of the world.

Even today, a slogan that originated in Shekou zone of the city is known throughout the nation: "Time is money and efficiency is life". That's part of the Shekou spirit, which features market rules and modern enterprise.

Today, people are remaking history on the same soil. On April 21, the youngest pilot free trade zone in the country was established in the province, of which Qianhai and Shekou play a major part. They not only inherit the old spirit of Shekou, but also merge it with the country's new situation to become a new direction.

The new Qianhai spirit features creative thinking and high quality standards, as well as strict disciplinary regulations to ensure clean governance.

The China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone comes at a time when the nation is implementing its Belt and Road Initiative, a grand plan to promote interconnectivity of the Eurasian continent. Their unique natural conditions enable the Qianhai and Shekou areas of Shenzhen to play a key role in the implementation of the initiative.

Located on China's south coast with a good deepwater port, the Qianhai zone dockland provides services to ships sailing from China to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and further to Africa and Europe. Qianhai is a key hub of the initiative that links the land and sea.

Things have greatly changed in the area from just 35 years ago, and Qianhai must update its strategy to suit the new situation. When Shenzhen became a special economic zone in 1980, the nation was on the brink of groundbreaking reform, ready to remove old barriers and embrace new regulations to turn its potential into productivity.

Now the country is undergoing another great reform to fix the problems that appeared in the past 35 years. The challenges are huge as the economy enters the new normal economic conditions, where there is no longer such a large cheap labor force, that previously supported its economic miracle.

It is time for Qianhai to work harder and better promote its spirit to influence history once again. There is no need to worry, however, because there are favorable conditions. The residents of this nation are getting rich, which means an enormous market for its products; and, three years into an anti-graft campaign launched by the top leadership, politics is becoming cleaner, something that cannot but be better for business. Most importantly, the nation has vowed to remain open to the outside world and never close its doors again. That is a promotion of the Qianhai spirit, which features hard work, enterprise and openness. There is no reason not to expect the Qianhai and Shekou areas to have a bright and prosperous future.

The author is an opinion writer at China Daily.

zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 12/07/2015 page24)