Shenzhen plans to build its own Hong Kong clone

There are plans to build a new city in China to compete against Hong Kong.

Media reports say Shenzhen, which aims to become China’s premier container port replacing Hong Kong, now apparently plans to challenge Hong Kong on another front.

Shenzhen’s latest ambition envisions building its own version of Hong Kong in the Qianhai Bay economic zone. This Hong Kong clone could cost an estimated US$45 billion to build. Its 15 square kilometer central business district will be 15 times that of Hong Kong’s.

It will be a financial services center to rival Hong Kong and will entice investors with the low taxes and investor incentives that have earned Hong Kong its well-deserved reputation as a leading economic hub in Asia.

President Hu Jintao is expected to announce preferential tax rates and other incentives for the Qianhai Bay zone when he visits Hong Kong this week for the anniversary of the city's return to China, and to swear in the new administration headed by Chief Executive-elect CY Leung.

Despite the threat posed by the proposed “mini-Hong Kong,” the government is publicly supporting the Qianhai project, which they see as a key part of the rapidly expanding cities in the Pearl River Delta, including Shenzhen.