The business grew quickly and moved its headquarter to the Nanshan district. Today, Tencent, the owner of WeChat, is a global gaming and messaging colossus.

"Tencent's grows path is as fast as the development of Shenzhen," Ma was quoted as saying by the Nanfang Daily newspaper.

Tencent is not alone. According to the Shenzhen Statistics Bureau, there are more than 150 listed companies and 3,500 national-level high-tech enterprises in Nanshan.

Shenzhen is also home to more than 360 listed companies, with a number of those counted among the world's top 500.

"Shenzhen's robust economy is not only driven by big players such as Tencent, but also a growing number of innovative companies like drone-maker DJI Technology and artificial intelligence and humanoid robotic company UBTech Robotics," said Ding Jianting, a business commentator based in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong.