The Luohu district government and the foreign affairs office of Shenzhen municipal government co-hosted an opening ceremony on Dec. 14 for a series of activities to build Shenzhen into an international city and Luohu into an international district.
At the ceremony, city lawmakers and political advisors, as well as representatives of foreign-funded enterprises and residents from Hong Kong, Australia and Russia, together with a group of international volunteers proposed suggestions for Shenzhen’s future development into an international city, and announced the beginning of Luohu international exchange month.
Featuring sharing, discovery, friendliness and humanity, the Luohu international exchange month will see Luohu government continue to engage overseas residents in urban construction and development.
The officials attending the opening ceremony included Fan Defan, Luohu district mayor, Cao Saixian, director of Shenzhen foreign affairs office, Sun Huaizhong, deputy director of Shenzhen foreign affairs office, and Lai Jianhua, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Luohu District Committee.  
Luohu will organize a total of 15 activities throughout the exchange month, including the international photography week, the street band competition, the paper shadow puppet play (intangible cultural heritage) performance and an information session about supportive policies for foreign-funded enterprises.   
These activities aim to advance the high-quality development of an international hub in Luohu. Likewise, the events are meant to highlight the district’s achievements thus far, form a system of joint construction, joint governance and shared benefits, and inject new vitality into the district’s future efforts to build an international center.
Notably, to make the lives and work of overseas residents in Luohu more convenient, the district government unveiled a Chinese-English residence service booklet during the opening ceremony, which is the first of its kind released by a district government in Shenzhen.
The brochure contains a brief introduction to Luohu and answers questions for foreigners regarding visa, employment, entrepreneurship, medical care, education and traffic, among others. It’s also full of lifestyle recommendations such as local restaurants, leisure activities and entertainment facilities.
In his address at the opening ceremony, Fan said that building Luohu into an international district is essential to promote the high-quality development of Shenzhen’s international-facing initiatives and to foster a diverse and inclusive atmosphere for global exchanges.  It was also significant to pool advanced international production factors, knowledge and talent in Shenzhen, which will boost the construction of a pilot demonstration zone of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the city, Fan added.
He noted that as the first district to be founded in Shenzhen, Luohu is a conduit to Hong Kong, and will spearhead the city’s campaign for opening up and embracing modern innovation.
During the ceremony, the officials presented flags and issued logos and T-shirts for Luohu’s international volunteer team, a group that includes expats working and living in Shenzhen, and Chinese residents and civil servants who have a global vision and foreign language proficiency.
The team is now made up of three squads, namely foreign affairs squad, foreigner squad and foreign language squad. They have contributed to preventing and controlling the COVID-19 epidemic, improving the international business environment and promoting cultural exchanges between China and other countries.
After the opening ceremony, the representatives gathered together and offered suggestions on how to build Shenzhen and Luohu into international hubs.
They suggested that Shenzhen should provide better public services such as medical care and education; the city should make better use of international media outlets to share its stories with the world; and the government should also educate the public about transforming the city into an international hub.
Cao Saixian said that internationalization should be a key component of Shenzhen’s development, and internationalized development represents Shenzhen’s exploration of megacity governance.
He said that various districts of Shenzhen have proactively applied for building international blocks, and turning Shenzhen into an international city requires the attention, participation and support of every citizen. The whole city should work together to popularize the concept of international city construction and cultivate an awareness of international communication for citizens so as to make the city a better place to work and live in.
Shenzhen began to construct an international city and international blocks in 2019, and has accumulated experiences through innovative measures.