Locals who live in Jinze Town in Shanghai’s Qingpu District look to the southern city of Dongguan in Guangdong Province to see the future of their small town: prosperity, prosperity, prosperity.

Huawei Technologies, China’s multinational designer and manufacturer of telecommunications equipment, semiconductors and consumer electronics, has opened its new 11 billion yuan (US$1.5 billion) Lianqiu Lake facility in the town, its biggest-ever research and development center.

Huawei’s presence is being likened to the ripple effect of a pebble thrown into a quiet pond.

Locals call it the “Songshan Lake effect,” referring to the name of Huawei’s campus in Dongguan, which is half the size of the new Lianqiu Lake site.

The base in Dongguan is mainly dedicated to the research and development of Huawei’s terminal business, which has led relevant industries in the city to flourish and boosted local development.

Jinze residents expect the new campus to be a huge magnet for investment, economic development and population growth as well.

The town, located about 60 kilometers from downtown Shanghai, had a population of about 50,000 before Huawei arrived. Some 25,000 Huawei employees will begin work there at the end of this month, rising to 30,000 by the end of the year.

The Lianqiu Lake complex, designed as Huawei’s global research and development hub, is the cornerstone of the broader Xicen Science and Innovation Center, which is expected to be completed by 2030, bringing nearly 100,000 employees to the area.

Xicen, in turn, is situated in the Yangtze River Delta Integration Demonstration Zone, a project undertaken by China to develop domestic technologies and make it less dependent on the West.

Amid an ongoing chip dispute between China and the United States, Lianqiu Lake will be a core base for developing Huawei HiSilicon chips, 5G and 6G wireless technologies, smartphones, automobiles and digital energy.

The sprawling Lianqiu Lake campus has 104 buildings, with its complex of laboratories, offices and leisure areas connected by an internal railway system. It also boasts 100 cafés.

Rapid changes in the Jinze area are already obvious. On Metro Line 17, the closest link to the area, once relatively empty carriages are now filled with passengers. On the Jinze section of the National Highway 318, traffic jams occur at peak hours where they never existed before.

The property market in the area is ablaze with demand for accommodation. In Huacen Jiayuan, a nearby housing community, monthly rents have doubled to 6,000 yuan in the past year. Some village homeowners are renting out rooms for about 5,000 yuan a month.

Zhu Haihua, a real estate agent for five years, said he has already sold nearly 80 properties.

Another agent noted: “There are not many houses available in the area right now. As soon as one becomes available, it is rented out quickly, mostly to secondary landlords.”

With the influx of new residents, demand has also surged for other lifestyle amenities, including entertainment and leisure activities. The local tourism market is suddenly thriving.

Bed and breakfast sites are catering to the incoming flood of professional talent needing somewhere to live until more permanent accommodation can be found.

At the Fushengsuji B&B, 60 rooms were booked in half a month, according to host Zhang Yan, who said his site is only seven minutes by car and 12 minutes by electric scooter from the Huawei center.

According to Qingpu officials, seven registered B&Bs in Jinze and the nearby towns of Zhujiajiao and Liantang are already accommodating Huawei employees and 64 are in negotiations to provide rooms.

“We are actively helping B&B owners to change their business models to adapt to the new market demand,” said a district official surnamed Xu.

Business trips by personnel from other Huawei work sites and related companies have boosted the local hotel market.

The Royal Tulip Hotel Zhujiajiao Shanghai reported a steady increase in bookings. Several other luxury hotels in the area, including the Crowne Plaza Shanghai Xiayang Lake, said there was a several-fold rise in bookings related to Huawei business travel in December alone.

Hotels have arranged shuttle buses for business travelers to go to the Huawei center and are providing conference facilities.

The Jinze area, dotted with lakes and criss-crossed by rivers, has long enjoyed a reputation as a well-kept secret among tourist destinations. It’s a secret no longer. Qingpu has arranged tours of its scenic sites, including Jinze Ancient Town, for Huawei staff.

“This is my first visit to Qingpu,” said Kevin Yuan, who hails from Hangzhou, works for Huawei and has rented an apartment in Zhaoxiang.

“I am eager to explore the area.”

The ripple effect of Huawei is benefiting an increasing number of surrounding villages.

Residents in Cenbu Village, about a 10-minute drive from the Huawei center, report hearing Cantonese — the dialect of Guangdong Province — spoken on the streets.

“That’s rare,” said Yu Jin, who operates a tourism business in the town. “These newcomers are all Huawei staffers.”

On social platforms, many Huawei employees are posting questions about their new home, inquiring about what’s available locally for leisure and entertainment.

Yu has seized this opportunity to help his business grow, predicting a big new market for Cenbu.

In the neighboring village of Xuejian, preparations are also under way to tap new opportunities.

“Our village is creating a forestry park and integrating the village’s cultural heritage into tourism efforts,” said Wang Yang, a senior official of the village.

That Huawei should exert such a major influence on the once dull area is no surprise. The company is a powerhouse. In the first half of 2024, the company reported revenue of 417.5 billion yuan, up 34 percent from a year earlier. The gain was attributed to increased investment in 5G technology and artificial intelligence.

Huawei’s business strategy dovetails with Shanghai’s focus on development of key industries: integrated circuits, biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence. The aggregate market size of those industries reached 1.6 trillion yuan in the city in 2023.

Within the broader Yangtze River Delta region, the scale of the integrated circuit industry now accounts for 60 percent of the nation’s total.

Li Xuefeng, general manager of the Taipu River Economic City about 3 kilometers south of the Huawei campus, said he is constantly fielding calls from investors and entrepreneurs interested in participating in the local boom.

“Everyone wants to do business with Huawei and is looking for relevant ways to get in on the action,” said an official in charge of business investment in Qingpu.

The services industry is also abuzz. A company that cleans dishes for Huawei’s canteens is looking for a business office nearby and recruiting new staff. A company providing laundry service is planning a major expansion. An AI company involved in vision development is considering moving into the area.

“Many companies are expressing a desire to be closer to Huawei,” said Li Yujie, deputy director of the Qingpu District Economic Commission.

As a result, local coffers are swelling with corporate and personal tax revenue. Jinze has become the third-highest revenue generator in Qingpu.

In the area around Huawei’s center, Jinze is reallocating its land resources.

“Small factories that cannot generate benefits and those in shutdown will be demolished, and the land will be used for commercial offices,” said Taipu River Economic City’s Li Xuefeng.