Tech giants haven't been the only ones to see the potential of Shenzhen, with thousands of enterprises taking advantage of progressive policies

Editor's note: As the People's Republic of China prepares to celebrate its 70th anniversary on Oct 1, China Daily is featuring a series of stories on the role regions have played in the country's development and where they are today.

Tech giant Tencent's rapid growth in recent decades has mirrored that of Shenzhen, Guangdong province, but the company's founder still remembers when the city seemed like a quiet backwater.

"When I first visited the city with my parents in the 1980s, Shenzhen was more like a fishing village and a wetland, with mountains and seas surrounding it," said Ma Huateng, chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings.

Ma, now 47, was only 13 years old then, but his company's fortunes have shadowed those of the former "fishing village".

In 1998 he established Tencent at an old building in the Huaqiangbei area of Shenzhen. One year later, Tencent's managers attended the first China Hi-tech Fair, looking for international investors to back the fledgling company.

The business grew quickly and moved its headquarter to the Nanshan district. Today, Tencent, the owner of WeChat, is a global gaming and messaging colossus.

"Tencent's grows path is as fast as the development of Shenzhen," Ma was quoted as saying by the Nanfang Daily newspaper.

Tencent is not alone. According to the Shenzhen Statistics Bureau, there are more than 150 listed companies and 3,500 national-level high-tech enterprises in Nanshan.

Shenzhen is also home to more than 360 listed companies, with a number of those counted among the world's top 500.

"Shenzhen's robust economy is not only driven by big players such as Tencent, but also a growing number of innovative companies like drone-maker DJI Technology and artificial intelligence and humanoid robotic company UBTech Robotics," said Ding Jianting, a business commentator based in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong.

An aerial view of downtown Shenzhen in Guangdong province. [Photo by Mao Siqian/Xinhua]