In June, Qianhai. A reporter from Southern Metropolis Daily entered the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Link Headquarters Base (hereinafter referred to as "Shenzhen-Hong Kong Link"), which was transformed from the old Qianhai Enterprise Mansion. With 29 standalone buildings scattered among the green waters, it has only been half a year since its establishment, and already 13 companies have settled here.

They come from different industries: some are engaged in gene drugs, some in digital twins, and some in intelligent supply chains. Although the tracks are different, they all come to seek the same answer: How can China's innovation and industry more efficiently connect to the global market?

Why does a hundred billion supply chain giant still want to start anew in Qianhai?

Qi Zhiping, Executive Director and Co-CEO of ZALL SMARTCOM Group, posed a question when discussing white sugar: What are the differences in quality requirements between food-grade and industrial-grade national first-class white granulated sugar? The answer is: food-grade sugar requires fine granules, pure white color, and strong water solubility; industrial-grade sugar only needs to meet the sweetness standard. It sounds like common sense, but it reflects the professional confidence that ZALL SMARTCOM has cultivated over twenty years in the industry. The annual circulation of white sugar in the country (including domestic and imported) is about 15 million tons, and the annual sales volume of white sugar from ZALL SMARTCOM's Zhongnongwang exceeds 4 million tons, accounting for nearly 30% of the national circulation. What supports this figure is not price advantage, but a thorough understanding of the origin, use, and transportation of each batch of sugar.

"Customers do not choose partners solely based on low prices; long-term stable service and deep industry adaptation are the core foundations of cooperation." This has been ZALL SMARTCOM's unwavering commitment to serving customers for over twenty years and is a microcosm of the entire B2B industrial internet transitioning from a price-driven era to a trust-driven era.

From the offline wholesale market of Hankou North International Trade City to digital vertical platforms for agricultural products, steel, and chemical plastics, and then to the international cross-border platform in cooperation with the Singapore Exchange and the Port of Singapore Authority, ZALL SMARTCOM has undergone three name changes and three strategic transformations, with a projected operating income of 155.029 billion yuan in 2025, ranking 46th among the top 500 private enterprises in China in 2025.

Why would such a large enterprise still want to run to Qianhai to start anew?

The answer lies in a structural dilemma. The various platforms under ZALL SMARTCOM—Zhongnongwang, Zhuogang Chain, and Huashu Hui—operate independently in their verticals, and the domestic business already has a mature internal circulation. "However, the resources of each sector are scattered and cannot be coordinated and integrated," Qi Zhiping said, which has been a long-standing shortcoming of the company.

Shenzhen-Hong Kong Link is the integration entry point that ZALL SMARTCOM has found.

According to the plan, the Hong Kong International Headquarters will undertake functions such as overseas investment and financing, cross-border fund management and trade settlement, cross-border trade settlement, and external institution docking; the Qianhai headquarters will serve as a connector, linking various platforms in the mainland with Hong Kong and Singapore, coordinating and integrating the group's cross-border resources. It is worth noting that last year, ZALL SMARTCOM began to transfer some resources and businesses from Singapore to Hong Kong, and the business scale in the Hong Kong region has reached 6 to 7 billion yuan—this is not just a plan, What is happening now.

The layout of the new track is also unfolding in Qianhai. ZALL SMARTCOM is targeting the front-end supply chain of electronic components and AI infrastructure, which is entirely different from traditional commodities like sugar and steel: traditional bulk commodities have a mature domestic circulation, but the industrial chain of chips and computing power infrastructure is inherently globalized, with bilateral circulation between domestic and international markets being a basic survival condition. Qianhai boasts the only international trading center for electronic components and integrated circuits in the country, with a transaction volume reaching 140 billion yuan last year, which is precisely the "connection" that ZALL SMARTCOM needs to enter the new track.

Qi Zhiping also hopes that the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect can provide a "comprehensive solution for cross-border capital operations" — not just cross-border capital flow, but also multi-currency settlement and coordinated capital arrangements between the two places. This is an expectation for the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Connect and a question that has yet to be answered.

"The progress of the Qianhai layout is currently about 50%, still in the initial exploratory stage." A company with an annual revenue exceeding 100 billion yuan still maintains the vigilance of an entrepreneur in the new track.

Genes and Algorithms, Seeking Exits in Qianhai

ZALL SMARTCOM is taking the path of digital upgrading of traditional industries. BaiAosheng has been deeply engaged in gene drugs for over twenty years, while WuYi Vision is an entrant in the physical AI track. Although the two companies have different directions, they are both seeking exits to the global market in Qianhai.

BaiAosheng (SinoGene) has a significant reputation in the international gene medicine circle. Its team participated in the independent research and development of the p53 gene drug, which was approved for listing in China in 2004, making it the world's first gene therapy drug. With over twenty years of deep cultivation, BaiAosheng's technological accumulation belongs to the "source innovation" level in the global gene drug landscape.

However, the founder and president of the Shenzhen Pharmaceutical Industry Association, Xu Wei, candidly stated: "We cannot reach it on our own." The capital market in Hong Kong, overseas medical resources in Brazil and Albania, and the actively connecting industrial ecosystem in Qianhai... these are levers that are difficult to independently leverage with the size of an innovative pharmaceutical company.

According to the plan, BaiAosheng will build a research and development headquarters in Qianhai, connecting the entire chain of "R&D - pilot testing - production - CDMO platform - clinical transformation - global BD transactions"; Pruijin will focus on cutting-edge early research, international multi-center clinical trials, and cross-border capital operations. The two places have distinct roles, with Qianhai as the "laboratory" and Hong Kong as the "exchange," together forming a complete commercialization path for innovative drugs.

Among them, how international clinical data flows across borders is one of the institutional issues most concerning these companies. The "China (Guangdong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Data Exit Management List (Negative List) (2025 Edition)," officially released in May 2026, adopts a negative list model — data outside the list can generally exit the country. This "generally can exit" means a substantial opening of channels for innovative pharmaceutical companies that need to connect international multi-center clinical data flows.

The story of WuYi Vision has a sci-fi feel to it. This company, with the vision of "cloning Earth’s 510 million square kilometers," has three major commercial platforms covering digital twins, synthetic data and simulation, and digital earth, with a market share of over 53.5% in the autonomous driving simulation field, reaching 19 countries and regions nationwide and overseas, and is set to land on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange by the end of 2025 Executive Director Wang Chenkang introduced the dual headquarters positioning of Wuyi Shijie: the Qianhai headquarters focuses on the implementation of scientific and technological innovation in the Greater Bay Area and the exploration of customer scenarios; the Hong Kong headquarters is responsible for capital operations, globalization business, cross-border computing power, and compliance data flow hub.

With the explosive growth of AI large model applications, computing power itself has become a scarce production resource, and the cross-border scheduling of computing power involves a series of complex variables such as data security, legal jurisdiction, and capital settlement. Wuyi Shijie is laying out a computing power hub in Hong Kong, which resonates with the cross-border data flow service system in Qianhai. The institutional innovation demand behind this is precisely the cutting-edge topic that ShenGang Hui is experimenting with.

What kind of soil is needed for a $1.64 billion transaction?

If one were to find a case to illustrate the institutional value of Shenzhen-Hong Kong collaboration, Pruijun might be the most convincing example.

Shenzhen Pruijun Biopharmaceuticals was established in 2012 and has been deeply engaged in the field of cell and gene therapy for over a decade. In 2025, Pruijun completed the clinical concept verification of the world's first in vivo BCMA CAR-T cell drug and reached a cooperation agreement with the international pharmaceutical company Gilead with a total contract amount of $1.64 billion and an upfront payment of $120 million, setting a record for Shenzhen's innovative drug external licensing and becoming China's first in vivo CAR-T technology external licensing project.

A transaction of this magnitude is far more than just a contract. The capital flows across the US and China, intellectual property operates globally, and clinical data needs to circulate across multiple legal jurisdictions—every link requires the collaborative support of Hong Kong's international financial center and Qianhai's institutional innovation.

Chairman Li Hongjian candidly stated: "Globalization is the 'must-answer question' for validating innovation value." He explained that innovative drugs, especially cell and gene therapy drugs, must target the global market, as the market share of innovative drugs in Europe and the United States exceeds 60%, while China's single market accounts for only about 10%. If a company only operates domestically, its value can never be fully realized.

The planning of Pruijun after landing in ShenGang Hui is precisely based on this logic: the Hong Kong international headquarters undertakes international multi-center clinical trials, global IP operations, and cross-border capital operations; the Qianhai headquarters focuses on drug discovery, process development, domestic clinical trial verification, and industrialization, forming a complete value closed loop of "Hong Kong innovation, Shenzhen-Hong Kong transformation, Bay Area manufacturing, and global market."

In addition, Pruijun also plans to explore the "Hong Kong-Qianhai Industrial Linkage Fund," which will accurately direct international capital towards industrialization projects in Qianhai and the mainland, while promoting the realization of global value for mainland industrial achievements through Hong Kong.

Different paths, the same theme: China's innovation must engage in dialogue with the global market to realize its complete value. And this dialogue requires institutions to act as translators.

Institutions are the most scarce production factors.

To understand ShenGang Hui, one must first understand what it is not.

It is not an industrial park. There are no factories or assembly lines in the park. It is not an ordinary investment attraction platform; the resident enterprises need to undergo multiple rounds of selection by a review panel composed of government departments from both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, industry authorities, think tank representatives, and other experts. Among the first batch of 13 enterprises, there are both companies under the Fortune Global 500 and listed companies in Hong Kong; there are both leaders in the innovative drug field and top companies in the artificial intelligence and cross-border supply chain sectors The Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Service Office of the Qianhai Management Bureau, Wang Zizhong, summarized its positioning as follows: to gather resources such as policies, talents, funds, technologies, and markets from both Shenzhen and Hong Kong, serving the cross-border development needs of enterprises and promoting high-level enterprises to rapidly expand into global markets. In other words, it focuses not on individual project implementation, but on the most critical issues in enterprise development: whether funds can flow more conveniently, whether data can exit smoothly, whether talents can move efficiently, and whether goods and equipment can clear customs more quickly.

Looking back at the reform and opening up, policy incentives released the initial vitality, but what ultimately determines the height and sustainability of development is the depth of institutional innovation. Tax reductions and fee cuts are easy for everyone to do; however, allowing funds to flow freely, ensuring data compliance for outbound movement, and facilitating unobstructed talent exchanges are more challenging reforms and represent more valuable barriers.

In terms of personnel movement, the "white list" mechanism for Hong Kong enterprises has allowed eligible companies to apply for business visas to Hong Kong as needed, without quota restrictions; foreign personnel can apply for "Chinese green cards," talent visas, internship visas, and port visas in Qianhai. The Shenzhen (Qianhai) Comprehensive Service Center for Cross-Border Data Flow and the Data Compliance Service Center (Shenzhen) have currently served over 130 enterprises. The optimization and upgrading of the free trade account function provide support for the cross-border flow of funds for dual-headquartered enterprises at the policy level.

However, the boundaries of policy remain clearly visible. Qi Zhiping's expectations have yet to be fulfilled. The distance between the pace of institutional innovation and the actual needs of enterprises determines how far Shenzhen-Hong Kong can go. The value of Qianhai lies in testing this distance in the real market: turning the bottlenecks encountered by enterprises into directions for institutional innovation.

An Ongoing Addition

Stepping out of the park conference room and walking along the path of Shenzhen-Hong Kong, young white-collar workers sit under the café's sunshade, while in a nearby glass conference room, business leaders are discussing cross-border funding arrangements and overseas market layouts.

Shenzhen has markets, manufacturing, and an engineer dividend. Hong Kong has international capital markets, a common law system, and a century of accumulated financial credit. What Shenzhen-Hong Kong aims to do is to truly combine these two endowments: to let funds flow, to let data run, to let talents move, and to let materials circulate.

"1+1>2," this is the vision written in the planning of Shenzhen-Hong Kong. However, the gap between vision and reality is filled with specific cross-border bottlenecks and repeated breakthroughs at the institutional level.

The 13 enterprises of Shenzhen-Hong Kong are just the starting point, with more enterprises gradually settling in. What has been seen on this trip is merely the first few pages. For the enterprises here, they are using their respective businesses to validate whether this addition can hold. The answer has just begun to be written Written by: Southern Metropolis Daily N Video Reporter Pan Yingyu

Photography: Southern Metropolis Daily N Video Reporter Liu Youzhi