A delegation of African government officials, experts and entrepreneurs gathered in Shenzhen on Monday for a China-Africa poverty reduction and development seminar, organized by the International Poverty Reduction Center in China, United Nations Development Program and China Center for Special Economic Zones Research of Shenzhen University.

The seminar aims to share China's experience in Special Economic Zones with the African partners, who are looking to establish similar zones to stimulate their economy.

China's Special Economic Zones started after the reform and opening – Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Shantou and Xiamen became the first batch in 1980; Hainan province became one in 1988, Shanghai's Pudong New Area in 1998, Tianjin's Binhai New area and Chongqing's Liangjiang New Area in 2005. All these special zones played important roles in the country's economic transformation and development.

According to Zhang Yansheng, professor at the Institute for International Economic Research of National Development and Reform Commission, Shenzhen has done the best among them, with its location advantage next to Hong Kong. What was a small fishing village 30 years ago has become a giant city whose GDP reached 1 trillion yuan in 2011.

Zhang said China's focus on special zones has changed several times. In early 1980s, the central government tried to attract the manufacturing industry by providing cheap land and labor; in 1988, Beijing's Zhongguancun Science Park was established, and from then on the country has turned to developing the high-tech industry, and so far there are 54 such industry parks at the State-level all over the country; in 1990, the government started comprehensive free trade zones, and has been increasing the promotion of bonded trade.

Now that China's labor, land, gas and RMB are all getting more expensive, Zhang believes the past glory has come to a transition point and the direction and mode of the economic growth will change. He said that as developing countries, China and African countries should strengthen cooperation.

Amare Asgedom, head of the Housing Development and Government Building Construction Bureau of the Ministry of Urban Development and Construction from Ethiopia, said Ethiopia is a country where agriculture and services take up the biggest percentage, while industry makes up only around 13 percent. It has just begun to set up industrial parks and have attracted some Chinese clothes and shoemaking companies. "We rented the land very cheap to them, around 10 cents per square meter," he said.

Asgedom said he was looking forward to visiting Shenzhen's industrial park and top high-tech companies, including Huawei, Tencent and ZTE, in the next several days. "Then I'll go back and tell them what an industry park shall be like," he said.