Fu, who has been involved in building district cooling systems for decades, described Qianhai as the first new development zone on the mainland that incorporates a centralized air conditioning system at the beginning of its design.

Since the first district cooling plant—No.2 cooling plant was completed in 2016, Qianhai now has five cooling plants serving 52 commercial users, and covering an area of 350 hectares. The system is expected to reduce carbon emissions by about 15,000 metric tons annually, with its supply capacity accounting for more than 20 percent of the nation's district energy market.

The economic zone's experience of managing its cooling system has helped Shenzhen Qianhai Energy Technology Development to secure a market share of 13.4 percent in the country's regional cooling energy industry and win the bid to operate the additional district cooling system at Hong Kong's Kai Tak Development, which is due to be completed this year.