Shenzhen, ground zero for China’s economic opening, has never had it better. But the glittering megacity is also poised to face a string of new threats in an era of increasingly contentious international relations. The Chinese city, in the Pearl River Delta north of Hong Kong, will feature in celebrations this week of the 40th anniversary of economic reforms that spurred astonishing growth for China. The great opening up, as it’s known, transformed a village of fishermen and rice farmers into a thriving metropolitan area, home to hundreds of companies, including eight controlled by tycoons who are among the world’s 500 wealthiest people and together worth $110 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
