From functional zone to administrative district

Longhua District has evolved from a functional zone into a fully functional administrative district. Longhua New Area was established on Dec. 30, 2011, on the basis of the former Longhua and Guanlan towns in Bao’an District, and was officially inaugurated as an administrative district on Jan. 7, 2017. 

Covering 175.6 square kilometers, the district comprises six subdistricts — Guanhu, Minzhi, Longhua, Dalang, Fucheng and Guanlan — as well as 69 community workstations and 113 residents’ committees. It currently has a permanent population of 2.4 million. 

After years of laying foundations and planning for the long term, Longhua has become a fertile ground for entrepreneurship and achievement, a vibrant place full of vitality and a district with enormous potential.

Excellent location and transport links

Longhua lies at Shenzhen’s geographical center and on the central axis of urban development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA). It borders six districts and one city: Longgang District to the east; Futian, Luohu and Nanshan districts to the south; Bao’an District to the west; and Dongguan City and Guangming District to the north. 

It is home to Shenzhen North Railway Station, a major integrated transport hub in the GBA. Hong Kong West Kowloon can be reached directly in just 15 minutes by high-speed railway, making Longhua one of the most convenient and fastest gateways between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong. Key areas across Shenzhen, including Qianhai and the Hetao area, are accessible within 30 minutes, while major cities across much of China, including Xiamen, Changsha and Wuhan, can be reached within four hours. Longhua therefore enjoys exceptional locational and transport advantages.

Strong industrial foundation

In 2025, Longhua District’s gross regional product (GRP) reached 331.1 billion yuan, an increase of 6.1%. The gross output value of industrial enterprises above designated size totaled 724.1 billion yuan, ranking fourth in Shenzhen. Total retail sales of consumer goods exceeded 140 billion yuan. General public budget revenue rose 7.4% to 17.69 billion yuan, while total foreign trade remained at around 500 billion yuan. The total output of core digital-economy industries surpassed 610 billion yuan, with their added value accounting for 35% of the district’s GRP. 

Longhua has one national-level and eight provincial-level specialized industrial clusters, both the highest numbers among Shenzhen’s districts.

Powerful innovation momentum

Longhua is home to 2,008 industrial enterprises above designated size, 4,140 national high-tech enterprises and 42 listed companies. It is a provincial core area for the artificial intelligence industry and a provincial demonstration base for the industrial internet industry. 

The district has 179 national-level specialized and innovative “little giant” enterprises, 1,880 municipal-level specialized and innovative enterprises, and 3,378 innovation-driven small and medium-sized enterprises, placing it among Shenzhen’s top three in each category. 

The output value of its high-tech industries totals 533.8 billion yuan, while the added value of strategic emerging industries accounts for 45.8% of GRP. Research and development expenditure across society represents 4.38% of GRP. 

Longhua has 423 innovation platforms at various levels, including Shenzhen’s first national manufacturing innovation center, the National Innovation Center for Advanced Medical Devices. The district has produced China’s first extracorporeal membrane oxygenation system and the world’s first 5.0-tesla whole-body magnetic resonance imaging system, breaking foreign technological monopolies. 

In 2025, more than 30,000 patents were granted in the district, including 1,009 international patents authorized under the Patent Cooperation Treaty.

Beautiful ecological environment

Surrounded by mountains on three sides and enlivened by a river running through it, Longhua is a national demonstration district for ecological civilization. 

It is home to Mission Hills Golf Club, favored by leading figures from around the world; Guanlan Printmaking Village, which brings together renowned artists from across the globe; Mission Hills Resort, a national 5A-level tourist attraction; Shanshui Tianyuan, a national 4A-level tourist attraction; and Yangtai Mountain Park, one of Shenzhen’s Eight Scenic Spots. 

The district is also traversed by the Guanlan River, Shenzhen’s only ecological landscape river that runs through the entire length of a municipal district. The river has been selected as both a national-level “Happy River or Lake” and a provincial-level “Beautiful River or Lake.” Longhua has 182 parks and nearly 400 kilometers of ecological ways and greenways, with green coverage reaching 44.2%. The Niuhu Waterfront Ecological Way has been selected as a provincial-level green and beautiful waterfront corridor. 

Longhua has been recognized as an outstanding district in practicing the concept that “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets,” a China climate-friendly county, a national soil and water conservation demonstration county, and a national pilot area for coordinated innovation in pollution and carbon reduction. Its experience in pursuing a comprehensive green transition has been selected as a provincial model case.

Rich cultural heritage

Hakka culture, revolutionary culture and fashion culture converge in Longhua. 

The district is home to prominent cultural sites, including the former site of the Great Rescue of Chinese Cultural Figures in Baishilong, which has been included in the third group of national memorial facilities and sites commemorating the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and named among the 10th group of “International Cultural Exchange Bases for Overseas Chinese.” 

Longhua has built a large number of cultural and sports facilities, including Shenzhen Library North Branch and Luhu Art Center. It has attracted renowned cultural and sports figures such as Meng Guanglu, Jiang Kun and Shan Jixiang to establish studios in the district, and successfully hosted major events including the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association All-Star Game and the Chinese Table Tennis Super League Finals. 

The Guanlan River Dragon Boat Race has been named one of “Shenzhen’s Top 10 Local Branded Sporting Events.” The Dachuankeng Kylin Dance is included on the national intangible cultural heritage list, and its inheritor Xie Yuqiu has been named a national-level representative inheritor. Dalang Fashion Town, Guanlan Printmaking Base, and Guanlan Ancient Market–Guihutang Old Walled Village have been selected as distinctive cultural blocks in Shenzhen. 

Guanlan’s “Keeping Watch Over the Fields” and “Mission Hills Sports Tourism” routes have been included among national high-quality tourism routes, while the “Longhua Art Rural Tourism Route” has been selected as a provincial high-quality route. Shangwei and Aohu Art Village have been recognized as distinctive culture and tourism villages in Guangdong. The “Shenzhen Chinese Porcelain and Rosewood Art Expo Tour” and the “Shenzhen Longhua Fashion Creative Craft Tour” have been included among Guangdong’s 20 high-quality industrial tourism routes. 

Longhua has successfully become a Guangdong provincial all-for-one tourism demonstration district.

Robust development of public services and well-being

Longhua currently has 126 primary and secondary schools and campuses, as well as 31 education groups, offering a total of 244,000 places in compulsory education. 

Four basic-education reform projects have won national teaching achievement awards. 

The district has been recognized as a national district achieving high-quality and balanced development of compulsory education, a national district with universal and inclusive preschool education, and a Guangdong demonstration district for science education in primary and secondary schools. 

It is also Shenzhen’s first pilot district for Guangdong’s education evaluation reform and an experimental district for curriculum reform under the Ministry of Education’s Institute of Curriculum and Textbook Research. 

Longhua has two district-administered Grade III, Class A general hospitals — Longhua District People’s Hospital and Longhua District Central Hospital — and is home to four municipal public hospitals: Longhua Branch of Shenzhen People’s Hospital, Shenzhen Xinhua Hospital, Longhua Campus of Shenzhen Children’s Hospital and Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital Longhua Hospital. 

The district currently has 11,000 hospital beds and has been designated a national demonstration district for the comprehensive prevention and control of chronic diseases and a national health-promotion district. 

Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan period, Longhua has built or secured more than 83,000 units of government-subsidized housing and provided more than 58,000 such units to eligible individuals or families. 

Longhua Talent Park has been approved as a national human resources services industrial park. The “Longhua First Stop for Employment” model received commendation in a State Council inspection circular. The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Guangdong) Youth Integration and Development Center for Self-Reliance has received two national titles: “National Demonstration Base for Business Incubation for Persons with Disabilities” and “National Sunshine Volunteer Service Base for Assisting Persons with Disabilities.”

Dynamic community-level governance

Longhua District has developed an innovative model for resolving conflicts and disputes with intelligence, precision, and effectiveness. This approach has been recognized as Shenzhen’s sole representative of the modernized “Fengqiao Experience,” a grassroots dispute-resolution model originating in Zhejiang in the 1960s that emphasizes local, community-driven solutions. 

Longhua was the first district in Shenzhen to launch the “Peaceful Shenzhen” pilot program and has developed a high-standard “1256” precise and intelligent governance system. Its comprehensive service center for public complaints and requests has been recognized as a county-level provincial benchmark, while its “integrated” diversified mechanism for resolving conflicts and disputes has been rated outstanding in the province. Its new “1+1+N” mediation model has been highly praised by the Ministry of Justice. 

Longhua has also established China’s first district-level comprehensive mediation institute and Shenzhen’s first people’s mediation committee for family disputes involving foreign nationals and residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. Its experience in using the rule of law to support enterprises and benefit workers has been promoted across Guangdong, and the district has become one of the province’s first pilot areas for safe development demonstration.