Shenzhen has launched a major volunteer drive as it gears up to host this year’s APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting, casting the summit as a showcase for China’s further opening‑up and the Greater Bay Area’s (GBA) growing global role. City authorities announced that recruitment is under way for volunteers to serve at the November gathering, building on Shenzhen’s existing pool of more than 4.2 million registered volunteers.
Officials say the APEC push is designed not only to staff venues and events, but also to highlight Shenzhen’s “City of Volunteers” image and its reputation for civic participation. The city has already enlisted over 4,000 international volunteers and is encouraging more foreign residents and students to sign up for roles ranging from language support to city promotion.
The volunteer campaign is part of a broader effort to use APEC 2026 as a platform to demonstrate Shenzhen’s role at the forefront of China’s high‑level opening‑up. Municipal leaders have linked summit preparations with plans to further ease business conditions, boost GBA integration, deepen trade and investment links, and make the city more attractive to foreign talent ahead of the leaders’ week.
[See more: Shenzhen’s Futian district launches internationalisation drive ahead of APEC meeting]
Shenzhen officials note that the national Government Work Report again names the GBA as a key engine of growth. As one of the Bay Area’s core cities, Shenzhen is positioning the APEC year as a chance to underline its strengths in innovation, manufacturing and services, while tightening connections with Hong Kong, Macao and neighbouring Guangdong cities.
City publicity around the summit has also stressed Shenzhen’s role as a testing ground for reforms, from streamlining administrative procedures for foreign businesses to piloting new cross‑border infrastructure and technology. Local media outlets have highlighted the meeting as an opportunity for the city to “tell China’s opening‑up story” through events, cultural exchanges and urban branding initiatives.
With preparations now accelerating, authorities say they will continue to refine security, transport and venue arrangements in the months ahead, while rolling out more community‑level activities tied to the summit. For the wider Greater Bay Area, Shenzhen’s APEC role is being framed as part of a longer‑term push to build an integrated, internationally competitive bay‑area economy on a par with Tokyo and San Francisco.
