Chinese tech giants, including Huawei and Xiaomi, have been moving some of their industrial chains out of the first-tier cities such as Shenzhen, setting off a wave of corporate migration in recent years, The Paper reported.
Smartphone maker Huawei officially relocated its R&D department and 2,700 staff from Shenzhen to Dongguan city in Guangdong province on July 2.
In recent years, leading drone maker DJI Technology has set up a global R&D and sales center in Dongguan. ZTE has also built a production base in Guangdong in Heyuan city.
The second headquarters of phone maker Xiaomi has settled in Hubei province’s capital city of Wuhan. While e-commerce giant Alibaba has picked Xi’an city in Shaanxi province as its northwestern headquarters.
These companies have moved their production, manufacturing and other sectors out of major cities because of the need for more land and to save on subsequent costs.
In those cities where housing prices are more affordable, land supply is more abundant, and there are a series of preferential policies.
Cutting commute to work from 1-2 hour to 10-20 minutes is transforming the landscape.