This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone (SEZ) since the State Council authorized the establishment of the first four SEZs in 1980. The 40-year development process of the city in Fujian Province, southeast China, also reflects China's growth after reform and opening up.

Each of the four SEZs, the other three being Shenzhen, Shantou and Zhuhai in Guangdong Province in the south, followed their unique development path.

Xiamen carried out the trans-island development strategy.

When the Xiamen SEZ was established, it had only an area of 2.5 square km on the main island. By March 1984, the SEZ was extended to the entire island but the resulting 131 square km was still not sufficient for the growing population and the ensuing economic development.

Ultimately in June 2010, the SEZ was expanded again to encompass the entire city, which meant the administrative districts outside the main island as well. Conceived by President Xi Jinping when he was governor of Fujian, the trans-island development strategy overcame the land limitation for Xiamen's development and provided space for the industrial clusters planned.

With this strategy, Xiamen has undergone an industrial transformation. The clusters of aviation, ocean shipping, culture and education as well as hi-tech and new technology-related industries that have developed in its six districts have promoted high-quality development of the port city.

Besides the hardware, Xiamen's calling card is its efficient and fast business environment that has attracted global companies to invest there, including many of the global 500 enterprises. To create that business environment and improve its competitiveness, Xiamen was the first city in China to simplify the procedure for registering a new business. It did that by integrating three separate procedures for business registration, getting the company code and tax registration and saving time and trouble.

Since then, it has instituted many other firsts in the country and seen its business advantages grow with the creation of the Xiamen Area in the China (Fujian) Pilot Free Trade Zone approved in December 2014. This was followed by greater connectivity via new shipping routes and railways, especially with the China-Europe freight train service, built as part of the Belt and Road Initiative, passing through Xiamen.

Despite the rapid industrialization, Xiamen has maintained and improved its environment, paying special attention to greening the land and cleaning its water bodies. Certified as one of the most livable cities in the world, it will focus on green energy and sustainable industrialization with no pollution or high consumption of resources for its future development.