Shenzhen (Chinese: ???; pinyin: Sh?nzhèn Shì; IPA: [??n?? t???n??]) is a city of sub-provincial administrative status in southern China's Guangdong province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. Owing to China's economic liberalization under the policies of reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, the area became China's first—and arguably one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones.

Shenzhen's novel and modern cityscape is the result of the vibrant economy made possible by rapid foreign investment since the late 1970s, when it was a small fishing village. Since then, foreign nationals have invested more than US$30 billion for building factories and forming joint ventures. It is now reputedly one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Being southern China's major financial centre, Shenzhen is home to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as well as the headquarters of numerous high-tech companies. Shenzhen is also the third busiest container port in China, ranking only after Shanghai and Hong Kong.

Earliest known ancient records that carried the name of Shenzhen date from 1410 during the Ming Dynasty. Local people called the drains in paddy fields “zhen” (?). Shenzhen (??) literally means “deep drains” as the area was once crisscrossed with rivers and streams, with deep drains within the paddy fields. It became a township at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, and was subsequently renamed to Xin’an and Bao’an.

The one-time fishing village of Shenzhen was singled out by the late Chinese paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to be the first of the Special Economic Zones (SEZ) in China. It was formally established in 1979 due to its proximity to Hong Kong, then a prosperous British territory. The SEZ was created to be an experimental ground for the practice of market capitalism within a community guided by the ideals of "socialism with Chinese characteristics".

The location was chosen to attract industrial investments from Hong Kong since the two places are near each other and share the same culture. The concept proved successful, propelling the further opening up of China and continuous economic reform. Shenzhen eventually became one of the largest cities in the Pearl River Delta region, which has become one of the economic powerhouses of China as well as the largest manufacturing base in the world.

Shenzhen, formerly known as Bao'an County (???), was promoted to prefecture level, directly governed by Guangdong province, in November 1979. In May 1980, Shenzhen was formally nominated as a "special economic zone", the first one of its kind in China. It was given the right of provincial-level economic administration in November 1988.

Shenzhen is the earliest of the five special economic zones in China. Deng Xiaoping is usually credited with the opening up of economic revival in China, often epitomized with the city of Shenzhen, which benefited the most from the policies of Deng.

For five months in 1996, Shenzhen was home to the Provisional Legislative Council and Provisional Executive Council of Hong Kong.