Forty-six years ago today, on April 30, 1979 (April 5, 1979), Deng Xiaoping proposed the creation of a Special Economic Zone. In January 1979, an excerpt of a letter from Hong Kong manufacturers requesting to open factories in Guangzhou was delivered to Deng Xiaoping's spacious desk. Deng Xiaoping habitually lit a "panda" cigarette, took a deep breath, and picked up the excerpt again. Then he stood up, walked to the large-scale map of China hanging on the wall, and his eyes fell on the southeast coast adjacent to Hong Kong and Macau. For a long time, the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China received Deng Xiaoping's excerpt from the letter: "I think Guangdong can let go of this kind of thing." A former deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China recalled the situation at that time, saying: "After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee, we felt that we could not do without reform and opening up. This instruction from Deng Xiaoping was a great inspiration and encouragement to us. We started from the actual situation of Guangdong, analyzed the characteristics of Guangdong, and proposed that Guangdong's reform and opening up should take a step first." In April, at the Central Work Conference, comrades from the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China made a speech and clearly put forward Guangdong's vision and requirements: to take advantage of the favorable conditions adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao, implement special policies and flexible measures to accelerate opening up and economic development. After reporting to the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee, Zhongxun, who was then the secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, reported to Deng Xiaoping with this opinion. Wang Quanguo, former deputy secretary of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee, said: "Comrade Xi Zhongxun took this opinion again and reported to Comrade Xiaoping, saying that Guangdong proposed to implement special policies and flexible measures. At this time, Comrade Xiaoping said in his original words: 'Yes! Establish a special zone. In the past, the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region was a special zone! The central government had no money, so you go and do it yourself, and fight a bloody way'." Deng Xiaoping's proposal to establish a special zone was like a boulder hitting the blue wave, which immediately aroused positive and strong responses. After the Central Work Conference, appointed by the Central Committee and the State Council, Gu Mu led the working group to visit Guangdong and Fujian, and worked with the responsible comrades of the two provinces to study the specific problems of establishing special zones. On June 6 and 9, the Guangdong and Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China respectively wrote reports on the implementation of special policies and flexible measures in foreign economic activities and submitted them to the Central Committee. On July 15, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued a document approving the reports of Guangdong and Fujian provinces. The document clearly stated that the "export special zone" should be established in Shenzhen and Zhuhai on a trial basis. After gaining experience, it will be considered to be established in Shantou and Xiamen. In March 1980, the Central Committee held a meeting attended by Guangdong and Fujian provinces in Beijing and officially named the "export special zone" as "Special Economic Zone". On August 26, 1980, the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress approved the "Regulations on Special Economic Zones in Guangdong Province" proposed by the State Council, announcing: In order to develop foreign economic cooperation and technological exchanges and promote socialist modernization, areas of 327.5 square kilometers, 6.7 square kilometers, and 1.67 square kilometers were designated in Shenzhen, Zhuhai, and Shantou in Guangdong Province, respectively, to set up Special Economic Zones. On December 10, the State Council officially approved the establishment of Xiamen Special Economic Zone, covering an area of 2.5 square kilometers. At the same time that the 15th meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed the "Regulations on Special Economic Zones in Guangdong Province", the small city on the coast of South China that is now a hot topic in the world sounded with the sound of firecrackers. Under the astonishment and suspicion of the people of Hong Kong on the other side, the first special economic zone in China, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, was born! The initiative of the chief architect began to be implemented. As a result, China opened a breakthrough in opening up to the outside world.