A Chilean cherry, picked from an orchard in the southern hemisphere, can be put on the dining table of a Shenzhen family within 72 hours.
The distance of 20,000 kilometers was like the end of the world in the past, but now it is like a "neighbor table".
The 33rd Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Informal Leaders' Meeting is about to kick off in Shenzhen. "Cherry Freedom" has allowed Shenzhen consumers to taste the sweetness of Asia-Pacific trade facilitation in advance.
Relying on efficient cross-border logistics to shorten transportation time, customs green channels speed up quarantine clearance, and APEC cooperation promotes customs clearance facilitation... In this way, a cherry is closely connected with the world's most influential economic cooperation mechanism, a high-profile economic and trade event, and the dining tables of ordinary people.
In November, Shenzhen is hot not only with supermarkets filled with imported fresh fruits such as cherries, grapefruits, and durians, but also with logistics and ports running at full speed for Christmas orders. There is also a strong atmosphere to welcome the APEC summit.
After Shanghai and Beijing, Shenzhen will become the third Chinese city to host the APEC Leaders’ Informal Meeting.
It is not surprising that APEC chose Shenzhen. In 1993, the first APEC Leaders' Informal Meeting was held; in the same year, Shenzhen's total export volume topped the list of mainland Chinese cities, and has ranked first for 33 consecutive years.
Over the past thirty years, this city, the starting point of reform and opening up, has witnessed, participated in and embraced the rapid changes in Asia-Pacific cooperation.
In the first three quarters of this year, Shenzhen's total import and export reached 4.65 trillion yuan, exceeding the scale of last year in nine months, with a year-on-year growth of 38.8%, accounting for 11.6% of the country's foreign trade, ranking first among mainland cities.
This foreign trade report card reflects Shenzhen’s confidence and quality in opening up.
Looking at the shopping cart, what is pouring into the Shenzhen port is not only a wide range of imported consumer goods such as cherries, but also "computing power nourishment" that will support future industries.
In the first three quarters of this year, Shenzhen's integrated circuit imports increased by more than 60%, and computer parts imports increased by 1.3 times.
They are the indispensable "food" for the AI industry and advanced manufacturing. Shenzhen, known as the "First Industrial City", will have the added value of advanced manufacturing accounting for 68.4% of the industrial scale above designated size in 2025. The booming growth of emerging industries has given rise to the city's unusual development resilience.
One figure is even more convincing: 60% of Shenzhen’s foreign trade increase this year comes from AI-related parts and components.
From the export side, we can also get a glimpse of this upward industrial curve. Relying on its solid industrial background, Shenzhen leads the country in many tracks: the export of Shenzhen's advantageous products such as 3D printers and digital cameras increased by 46.5% in total, accounting for more than 80% of the country's exports of similar products; the export of robots totaled 13.449 billion yuan, a 12.9-fold increase year-on-year.
In addition, more than 70% of Shenzhen's imports and exports are contributed by private enterprises, and the "science content" is also very high. In the first half of the year, Shenzhen's independent brand exports accounted for 33.7%, 8.8 percentage points higher than the national average.
The smart imaging products of DJI and ShadowStone are popular all over the world; Tuozhu, Chuangxiang 3D, Vertical Cube, and Intelligent Pai have taken together about 90% of the world's entry-level 3D printer market share; Xiejiang and UBTECH Robots are sailing overseas, and BYD New Energy's footprints are spread across all continents... "Shenzhen Intelligent Manufacturing" has become a distinctive symbol of China's scientific and technological innovation capabilities and production capacity overseas.
Under the background of openness and innovation, Shenzhen has become more deeply integrated into the wave of Asia-Pacific cooperation.
It can be seen from the two route maps: Shenzhen's western port area has 205 international routes, including 165 Asian routes, focusing on Southeast Asia. The eastern port area has 79 international routes, more leading to Europe and the United States, and the routes leading to APEC economies are becoming denser.
In the first three quarters, Shenzhen's imports and exports to other APEC economies reached 3.23 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 40%, ranking first among mainland cities in the country.
If the number of routes determines the breadth of trade, then mechanism innovation determines the depth of cooperation. Relying on the Qianhai-Shekou Free Trade Zone and other areas, Shenzhen has optimized the cross-border supervision model, implemented the "Global Central Warehouse" project, promoted fast customs clearance of fresh food and other facilitation reforms, and continued to explore high-level opening up to fully unleash the dividends of Asia-Pacific cooperation.
Today, Shenzhen, riding the wind, is raising its economic size to a new level: from less than 300 million yuan in GDP for the whole year in 1980, to exceeding the 3 trillion yuan mark in the first three quarters of 2026, and accelerating its impact on China's third 4 trillion city. Behind this, Shenzhen's growth code is not to engage in construction behind closed doors, but to find its position and continue to grow within the global division of labor and collaboration network.
The theme of the 2026 APEC Summit is "Building an Asia-Pacific Community and Promoting Common Prosperity". Openness, innovation and cooperation are the three priority areas. These three keywords run through Shenzhen’s decades of growth history.
From the "freshness" of cherries, to the "newness" of computing power, to the "volume" of GDP sprinting to 4 trillion, when the Asia-Pacific family gathers again in China, Shenzhen, a city with openness as its gene, will write a vivid footnote to the building of the Asia-Pacific community with its own growth trajectory.
