Shenzhen has surpassed Hong Kong in economic competitiveness for the first time. This is according to the latest 2015 China Urban Competitive Report released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

China’s silicon valley — Shenzhen is not only home to world leaders in innovation like Huawei, ZTE and Tencent, it also attracts thousands of smaller innovative companies.

Dr. Liu Zizhong began his hardware business in 2012 with its headquarters in Shenzhen. Using state-of-the-art technologies, some of his products have broken world records. With the ambition to change the shape of the current electronics industry, Dr. Liu said Shenzhen is the ideal place for a high-tech company like his.

In the 2015 China Urban Competitive Report, released in May by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Shenzhen has overtaken Hong Kong in terms of comprehensive economic competitiveness and relegated the SAR to second spot. Hong Kong is ranked just ahead of Shanghai, Taipei and Guangzhou. Local officials say innovation is the key to Shenzhen’s fast growth.

In the next few years, Shenzhen will take more efforts to attract cutting edge technologies and innovative companies

As China’s first special economic zone, Shenzhen is now home to thousands of innovative companies and over 10 million migrants from all over the country. Experts believe that in order to sustain this growth, the city will have to stimulate further advances in technology and innovation.