(SCC 2025) Intelligent Technology and New-Quality Productivity Shenzhen's Digital Leapfrog

This study examines how Shenzhen, China's pioneering special economic zone, leverages intelligent technologies to drive new-quality productivity (NQP) through a distinctive digital leapfrog model. The research employs a mixed-methods approach combining panel data analysis of 1,200 enterprises (2018-2025), spatial econometric modeling, and qualitative case studies to investigate three core questions: how institutional innovation enables technological leapfrogging, what governance mechanisms resolve the centralization-vulnerability paradox, and how technology-society co-evolution generates sustainable productivity gains. Empirical findings reveal that Shenzhen achieves NQP advancement through three interconnected mechanisms: enterprise-level capability restructuring (82.7% probability of TFP growth), industrial integration (0.83% productivity increase per 1% AI penetration), and adaptive urban governance (57% higher public data utilization). The study identifies four replicable leapfrog patterns: technologyskipping in traditional sectors, modular globalization of production, governance fitness through regulatory sandboxes, and resilience reshaping via dual-loop learning. These patterns collectively demonstrate how strategic integration of artificial intelligence, blockchain, and IoT systems—when coupled with institutional innovation—enables regions to bypass incremental development stages, achieving 47% efficiency gains in AI training and 29.4% GDP growth in digital-industrial clusters. Theoretically, this research re-conceptualizes NQP as a socio-technical achievement emerging from recursive technology-institution interactions, challenging path dependency theories. Practically, it provides policymakers with evidence-based frameworks for accelerating digital transformation while balancing innovation, regulation, and ethical compliance.