De aldea a ciudad global: las relaciones transfronterizas entre Shenzhen y Hong Kong


From village to global city: cross-border relations between Shenzhen and Hong Kong


https://doi.org/10.21670/ref.2606184

Autores/as

Palabras clave:

China, Shenzhen, Hong Kong, un país dos sistemas, relaciones transfronterizas

Resumen

La transformación de Shenzhen tiene como elemento indispensable las relaciones transfronterizas con Hong Kong. Este artículo, con base en el método documental, analiza las distintas etapas de la relación Shenzhen-Hong Kong durante 45 años, desde el inicio del proceso de apertura y reforma económica de China en 1979. Para ello, se discute el marco legal detrás de una relación sui generis moldeada por la adopción del concepto de “un país, dos sistemas” que permitió a Shenzhen transformarse en una metrópoli internacional. Los hallazgos demuestran que la adopción de una política pública basada en una visión de mediano y largo plazo, que puso como centro las ventajas derivadas de una relación fronteriza única, fue una pieza clave de esta transformación. Finalmente, las conclusiones destacan que la adopción de una planificación basada en una visión de complementariedad transfronteriza puede mejorar las condiciones de vida de las poblaciones menos favorecidas.

Abstract

Shenzhen’s transformation has as an indispensable element its relationship with Hong Kong. This article, employing a documentary method and considering a period that began with China’s opening-up and economic reform in 1979, analyzes the distinct stages of the relationship between Shenzhen and Hong Kong over 45 years. To this end, it discusses the legal framework behind a unique relationship shaped by the adoption of the “one country, two systems” concept that allowed Shenzhen to transform into an international metropolis. The findings demonstrate that the adoption of a public policy based on a medium- and long-term vision, which focused on the advantages of a single-border relationship, was a key element of this transformation. The conclusions emphasize that adopting a planning approach based on a vision of cross-border complementarity can enhance the living conditions of disadvantaged populations.

Citas

Alagappa, M. (Ed.). (1995). Political legitimacy in Southeast Asia: the quest for moral authority. Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780804764704

Anguiano, E. (1997). La reunificación de Hong Kong y China (Cuadernos de trabajo Programa de Estudios de APEC, v. 7). El Colegio de México. https://repositorio.colmex.mx/concern/books/gh93h010p?locale=es DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv8bt2kt

Anguiano, E. (2001). Los congresos nacionales del Partido Comunista. En E. Anguiano (Coord.), China contemporánea. La construcción de un país (desde 1949) (pp. 121-178). El Colegio de México. https://repositorio.colmex.mx/concern/books/kd17ct719?locale=es DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv3dnnv8.5

Barker, R. (1990). Political legitimacy and the State. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198274957.001.0001

Bhardwaj, R. (1992). China’s economic reform: the role and significance of SEZs. The Indian Journal of Political Science, 53(3), 332-373. https://www.jstor.org/stable/41855617

Bléjer, M., Burton, D., Dunaway, S. & Szapary, G. (1991, enero). China: economic reform and macroeconomic management. International Monetary Fund. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/display/book/9781557752024/9781557752024.xml

Bontje, M. (2019). Hong Kong and Shenzhen: twins, rivals or potential megacity? En J. Garrard & E. Mikhailova (Eds.), Twin cities. Urban communities, borders and relationships over time (pp. 132-146). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315104638-10

Cable, V. (2017). Deng: architect of the Chinese superpower. En J. Yu (Ed.), From Deng to Xi: economic reform, the new silk road, and the return of the middle kingdom (pp. 1-7). LSE Ideas. https://www.lse.ac.uk/ideas/publications/old-reports/deng-xi

Carter, C. (2010). A tale of two Chinese SEZs: from exogenous to sustainable endogenous growth? En C. Carter & A. Harding (Eds.), Special economic zones in Asian market economies (pp. 54-83). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203841860

Castells, M. (1998). End of millennium (The information age: economy, society and culture, vol III). Blackwell Publishers.

Chan, M. K. (1996). Hong Kong: colonial legacy, transformation, and challenge. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 547(1), 11-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716296547001002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0002716296547001002

Chan, R. C. K. & Lin, G. C. S. (2008). From a colonial outpost to a special administrative region: Hong Kong’s first decade of reunion with China. China Review, 8(1), 1-6. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23462258

Chatwin, J. (2024). The southern tour. Deng Xiaoping and the fight for China’s future. Bloomsbury. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350324084

Cheek, T. (2016). Reform and rebuilding, 1976-1988. En J. N. Wasserstrom (Ed.), The Oxford illustrated history of modern China (pp. 194-214). Oxford University Press.

Chen, K., Jefferson, G. H. & Singh, I. (1992). Lessons from China’s economic reform. The World Bank. https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/169101468914762305/pdf/Lessons-from-Chinas-economic-reform.pdf DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-5967(92)90132-Q

Chen, S., Chen, A. Y. & Zhong, E. S. (2003). Special economic zones and globalization of Chinese cities: the case of Shenzhen. American Journal of Chinese Studies, 10(1), 1-19. https://www.jstor.org/stable/44288719

Chen, X. & De’Medici, T. (2012). From a fishing village via an instant city to a secondary global city. The “miracle” and growth pains of Shenzhen Special Economic Zone in China. En X. Chen & ‎A. Kanna (Eds.), Rethinking global urbanism. Comparative insights from secondary cities (pp. 107-126). Routledge.

Chu, D. K. W. (1987). China’s special economic zones: expectations and reality. Asian Affairs: An American Review, 14(2), 77-89. https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.1987.10553641 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.1987.10553641

Chu, Y.-h. (2013). Sources of regime legitimacy and the debate over the Chinese model. China Review, 13(1), 1-42. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23462227

Declaración Conjunta Sino-Británica, 19 de diciembre de 1984, https://www.iri.edu.ar/publicaciones_iri/IRI%20COMPLETO%20-%20Publicaciones-V05/Publicaciones/I2/I2-1C.htm

Dillon, M. (2010). China. A modern history. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Ellman, M. (1986). Economic reform in China. International Affairs, 62(3), 423-442. https://doi.org/10.2307/2617885 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2617885

Fenby, J. (2008). China: the fall and rise of a great power, 1850 to the present. Harper Collins Publisher.

Freeman, C. (2009). Urban revolution and social change in contemporary China. SAIS Review of International Affairs, 29(1), 121-127. https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.0.0041 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/sais.0.0041

Garver, J. W. (2016). China’s quest: the history of foreign relations of the People’s Republic of China. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190261054.001.0001

GaWC. (2025). World Cities 2024. https://gawc.lboro.ac.uk/gawc-worlds/the-world-according-to-gawc/world-cities-2024/

Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative. (2018, febrero). 2017 Economic Background and 2018 Prospects. https://www.hkeconomy.gov.hk/en/pdf/er_17q4.pdf

Guo, B. (2010). China’s quest for political legitimacy: The new equity-enhancing politics. Lexington Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5771/9781461633129

Harding, H. (1987). China’s second revolution. Reform after Mao. Brookings Institution.

Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government. (2025). The Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. The basic law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau. https://www.basiclaw.gov.hk/en/basiclaw/basiclaw.html

Hsü, I. C. Y. (2000). The rise of modern China. Oxford University Press.

Hu, R. (2021). The Shenzhen phenomenon. From fishing village to global knowledge city. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367815653

Huang, J. & Rohayah Sheikh Dawood, S. (2024). Geography of knowledge interactions and innovation in Shenzhen. Cogent Business & Management, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2327469 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23311975.2024.2327469

Huang, W. (2017). The tripartite origin of Shenzhen: Beijing, Hong Kong and Bao’an. En M. A. O’Donell, W. Wong & J. Bach (Eds.), Learning from Shenzhen: China’s post-Mao experiment from special zone to model city (pp.65-85). University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226401263.003.0004

Huang, Y. (1996). Inflation and investment control in China. Cambridge University Press.

Im, G.-S. (2014, septiembre). Lessons for Rajin Special Economic Zone: the Shenzhen experience. En J. J. Kim & H. Minjeong (Eds.), Outside looking in: a view into the North Korean economy (pp. 113-128). Asan Institute for Policy Studies. https://www.asaninst.org/bbs/board.php?bo_table=s1_2_eng&wr_id=39

Ku, C. (1990). The Hong Kong special administrative region: from crown to Chinese colony. Asian Affairs: an American Review, 17(3), 101-115. https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.1990.10553569 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00927678.1990.10553569

Lee, P.-t. (2005). Introduction: history of Hong Kong and history of modern China: unravelling the relationship. En P.-t. Lee (Ed.), Colonial Hong Kong and Modern China. Interaction and reintegration (pp. 1-6). Hong Kong University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9789882200784-004

Lemus-Delgado, D. & Balderrama, R. (2010). China y las oportunidades que ofrece para México. Fomento Económico Mexicano.

Li, C. (2014). China’s communist party-state: the structure of power. En W. A. Joseph (Ed.), Politics in China. An introduction (pp. 192-223). Oxford University Press.

Li, P.-K. (2000). Hong Kong from Britain to China. Political cleavages, electoral dynamics and institutional changes. Routledge.

Liu, P.-W. & Lam, K.-C. J. (2022). Mainland Chinese migrants in Hong Kong: How well do they fare? Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Lo, P. Y. (2014). The judicial construction of Hong Kong’s basic law. Cortes, politics and society after 1997. Hong Kong University Press.

López Villafañe, V. (2012). La modernidad China. Fin del socialismo y los desafíos de la sociedad de mercado. Siglo XXI Editores.

Mao, J., Yan, X., Li, Z. & Zhou, S. (2008). The effect of urban planning control upon land use in Shenzhen. Acta Geographica Sinica, 63(3), 311-320. https://doi.org/10.11821/xb200803009

Martí Sánchez, L. (2012). Hong Kong: de colonia británica a región administrativa especial de la República Popular China. Revista de las Cortes Generales, (87), 189-229. https://revista.cortesgenerales.es/rcg/article/view/640 DOI: https://doi.org/10.33426/rcg/2012/87/640

Murphy, A. B. (2025). What comparative analysis can tell us about transboundary cooperation challenges in China’s Greater Bay Area. Area Development and Policy, 10(3), 521-527. https://doi.org/10.1080/23792949.2025.2512528 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/23792949.2025.2512528

National Bureau of Statics of China. (2024). China Statistical Yearbook 2024. China Statistics Press. https://www.stats.gov.cn/sj/ndsj/2024/indexeh.htm

Oropeza-García, A. (2019). China y el Estado desarrollador. Una opinión desde la construcción del poder chino. En J. A. Romero Tellaeche & J. Berasaluce Iza (Coords.), Estado desarrollador. Casos exitosos y lecciones para México (pp. 137-190). El Colegio de México. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv15tt6sz.6

Quattrone, G. & Chen, L. (2023). Shenzhen: How to further implement the sustainability and resilience towards 2030? Cities, 136, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104263 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104263

Roberts, N. (2012). From handshake buildings to golf villas: how the flash cities of Manchester and Shenzhen came of age. En V. Bharne (Ed.), The emerging Asian city. Concomitant urbanities and urbanisms (pp. 203-212). Routledge.

Rosales, O. (2020). El sueño chino. Cómo se ve China a sí misma y cómo nos equivocamos los occidentales al interpretarla. Siglo XXI editores / CEPAL. https://www.cepal.org/es/publicaciones/45114-sueno-chino-como-se-ve-china-si-misma-como-equivocamos-occidentales-al

Shen, J. (2018). Urbanization, regional development and governance in China. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315143255

Shenzhen Government Online. (2025). City plans 798 key projects worth ¥3.15T in 2025. General Office of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government. https://www.sz.gov.cn/en_szgov/news/latest/content/post_12049105.html

Shenzhen Municipality Bureau of Statistics. (2024). Shenzhen statistical yearbook. China Statistics Press.

Shirk, S. L. (1993). The political logic of economic reform in China. The University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520912212

Solé-Farràs, J. (2014). New confucianism in twenty-first century China. The construction of a discourse. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315880457

Stoltenberg, C. D. (1955). China’s special economic zones: their development and prospects. Far Eastern Survey, 24(6), 637-654. https://doi.org/10.2307/2644396 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2644396

Summers, T. (2018). The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at 20. Evaluating the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Asian Education and Development Studies, 7(1), 89-101. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-07-2017-0069 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/AEDS-07-2017-0069

Tantri, M. L. (2013). Trajectories of China’s integration with the world economy through SEZs: a study of Shenzhen SEZ. China Report, 49(2), 227-250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0009445513491526 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0009445513491526

The State Council. The People´s Republic of China. (2014, junio). The practice of the “one country, two systems” policy in the Hong Kong special administrative region. https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/white_paper/2014/08/23/content_281474982986578.htm

The State Council. The People’s Republic of China. (2019). Constitution of the People’s Republic of China. https://english.www.gov.cn/archive/lawsregulations/201911/20/content_WS5ed8856ec6d0b3f0e9499913.html

Tong, Y. (2011). Morality, benevolence, and responsibility: regime legitimacy in China from past to present. En D. Zhenglai & S. Guo (Eds.), Reviving legitimacy (pp. 195-214). Lexington Books. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11366-011-9141-7

Vogel, E. F. (1991). The four little dragons. The spread of industrialization in East Asia. Harvard University Press.

Vogel, E. F. (2011). Deng Xiaoping and the transformation of China. Harvard University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674062832

Yang, J. (2024). El mundo al revés. Una historia de la revolución cultural china. Akal.

Ye, L. & Yang, X. (2018). Urban strategies for extended metropolises in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta: state-firm dynamics in anchoring the new metropolitan center. En J. S. Gross, E. Gualini & L. Ye (Eds.), Constructing metropolitan space. Actors, policies and processes of rescaling in world metropolises (pp. 196-210). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351212083-9

Yeung, H. (2015). A tale of two cities - the development and reform experiences of Shenzhen and Shanghai. Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies, 13(4), 369-396. https://doi.org/10.1080/14765284.2015.1090268 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14765284.2015.1090268

Yip, A. (2015). Hong Kong and China: one country, two systems, two identities. Global Societies Journal, 3, 20-27. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/15v5j7w3

Yitao, T. & Zhiguo, L. (Eds.). (2014). China’s economic zones: design, implementation and impact. Social Sciences Academic Press.

Yu, H. (2019). The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area in the making: development plan and challenges. Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 34(4), 481-509. https://doi.org/10.1080/09557571.2019.1679719 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09557571.2019.1679719

Wang, S. & Hu, A. (2001). The Chinese economy in crisis. State capacity and tax reform. Routledge.

Wong, S. (2007). Exploring ‘unseen’ social capital in community participation. Everyday lives of poor mainland Chinese migrants in Hong Kong. Amsterdam University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9789048501052

Wu, M., Liu, C. & Huang, J. (2021). The special economic zones and innovation: evidence from China. China Economic Quarterly International, 1(4), 319-330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceqi.2021.11.004 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ceqi.2021.11.004

Xiaoyun, Z. (2017). A study of the “new normal” path for the Shenzhen special economic zone. En Y. Yuan (Ed.), Studies on China's special economic zones (pp. 91-99). Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3704-7_7

Zacharias, J. & Tang, Y. (2010). Restructuring and repositioning Shenzhen, China’s new mega city, Progress in Planning, 73(4), 209-249. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2010.01.002 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.progress.2010.01.002

Zhao, D. (2015). The confucian-legalist State. A new theory of Chinese history. Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199351732.001.0001

Zheng, Y. (1999). China’s incremental political reform: lessons and experiences. En W. Gungwu & J. Wong (Eds.), China. Two decades of reform and change (pp. 11-40). Singapore University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1142/9789812817860_0002

Descargas

Publicado

2026-05-20

Número

Sección

Artículos
Compartir

Biografía del autor/a

Daniel Lemus-Delgado

Mexicano. Doctorado en relaciones internacionales transpacíficas por la Universidad de Colima. Profesor investigador en la Escuela de Ciencias Sociales y Gobierno del Tecnológico de Monterrey. Publicación reciente: Lemus-Delgado, D. (2025). China’s Apollo Program: Chang’e lunar missions and regime legitimacy. Astropolitics, 23(1), 73-87.