Shenzhen gears up for APEC

Visitors take photos in front of an APEC China 2026 floral display in Shenzhen as the city prepares to host the 33rd APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November. Photos by Shenzhen Special Zone Daily

Shenzhen is stepping up preparations for the upcoming APEC meetings, upgrading border crossings, improving public services and encouraging community participation to make travel and daily life more convenient for delegates and international visitors.

Upgraded ports speed up entry

A volunteer guides an international traveler through Shenzhen Bao’an International Airport. Shenzhen is expanding visitor services to facilitate travel ahead of the APEC meetings.

The redeveloped Huanggang Port, China's largest single port building and the world's largest land port complex, officially began operations Oct. 12. The port uses a co-location arrangement and a new "collaborative inspection and joint clearance" model, offering round-the-clock clearance services for cross-border passengers and vehicles. On its first day of operation, the facility handled 79,500 passenger crossings.

Dedicated customs clearance lanes for APEC delegates have been set up at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport. The airport is also piloting an advance screening system that has cut passenger customs clearance time during peak periods from 45 minutes to under 15 minutes. Nearly 400 new signs in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean and other languages have also been installed.

As of early September, the number of crossings by foreign passengers from APEC member economies through the airport this year had exceeded 1 million, a record for the same period. The airport operates more than 30 passenger routes to key cities in APEC economies, with over 700 inbound and outbound flights scheduled each week.

Better services make Shenzhen more visitor-friendly

Bilingual signs in a Metro station guide passengers transferring to Shenzhen North Railway Station. The city has been improving English-language signage across its transport network ahead of the APEC meetings in November.

Shenzhen is continuing to improve services for international visitors, including foreign-language signage, transportation, payment services and tax refunds. Regulations governing the standardized use and management of foreign-language signs in public places took effect Oct. 1, setting requirements for eight categories of public venues to make the city easier for international visitors to navigate.

More than 7,000 smart translation devices have been deployed at bus and subway stations, government service halls, cultural venues and sports facilities across Shenzhen. Over 5,000 taxis are equipped with AI-powered devices that support real-time voice translation in more than 140 languages. All 11,000 bus stops across the city now have English-language names, and passengers can scan QR codes on bus stop signs to access route information in English and real-time arrival updates.

Passengers walk past bilingual transportation signs and an APEC China 2026 display at a Shenzhen transport hub as the city upgrades public services ahead of the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November. People's Daily

All 17 Metro lines and 432 stations across the city accept contactless payments with overseas bank cards. As of July, 41,000 merchants across the city accepted overseas bank cards, supported by 51,000 point-of-sale terminals. From January to August, foreign nationals made 143 million transactions in Shenzhen, totaling 21.09 billion yuan (US$3.15 billion), up 18.64% and 26.58% year on year, respectively.

Shenzhen is also expanding departure tax refund and currency exchange services at its airport and in commercial districts. Hospitals, hotels, tourist attractions and legal service providers are also improving their services for international visitors and clients.

Residents join preparations

On Oct. 15, Shenzhen launched a green mobility initiative encouraging residents to limit or forgo the use of private cars during the APEC meeting week. Within three hours of the initiative's launch, more than 20,000 car owners had pledged to keep their vehicles off the road. By the morning of Oct. 17, the number had exceeded 230,000.

Residents hold signs promoting green travel and reduced car use as Shenzhen encourages public participation in efforts to ease traffic during APEC meeting week.

Fourteen universities in Shenzhen, including Shenzhen University and the Southern University of Science and Technology, have established volunteer teams for APEC-related services. International volunteers are active in markets and communities, while student volunteers from Shenzhen Foreign Languages School have been helping foreign visitors navigate Shenzhen North Railway Station and answering their questions. Civil servants are also taking part in community-level safety inspections, helping maintain traffic order, guiding visitors at venues and supporting international exchange activities.

Freight truck drivers have formed a citywide volunteer service team, while couriers and food delivery riders are taking classes in basic foreign languages and etiquette to better assist international visitors.