Economics
A fishing town became a city of millions because of one policy experiment
In 1980, Deng Xiaoping designated Shenzhen — then a small fishing and farming county bordering Hong Kong — as one of China's first Special Economic Zones, allowing market-driven pricing and foreign investment years before the rest of the country. Within four decades it grew into a manufacturing and tech hub with a population rivaling major world capitals. It became the test case for China's entire shift toward a market economy.