SHENZHEN - Deng Zhibiao has always regretted letting his son leave Shenzhen.

"I should have stopped my second son from going to Hong Kong 40 years ago," said Deng, 75, at his home in Shenzhen, a business city in southern China's Guangdong Province.

The city has served Deng's eldest and youngest sons well. Both have more than one apartment in the city, as well as large incomes of several hundred thousand yuan.

"My second son has come back to work in Shenzhen, but has to rent an apartment," Deng said.

Deng was once head of Yumin Village, a hamlet of fishermen, in Shenzhen. In many ways, Deng's family life has run hand-in-hand with the life of Shenzhen, which has developed so much over the last few decades.

As one of China's first special economic zones, Shenzhen has evolved from a tiny fishing village into a vast metropolis. The city has a population of nearly 12 million, and its GDP ranks the fourth after the cities of Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

There is another Deng whose relationship with Shenzhen is more well known.

Deng Xiaoping was known as the chief architect of China's economic reform, opening up and modernization, and it was his landmark speeches during his famous southern China tour in 1992 that further inspired the fast developing city to keep on its way.

The city became free to reform and pursue wealth. Deng Zhibiao certainly venerates his namesake: "Without his policies, such development would be unimaginable."