Deng Xiaoping visited Shannon's special economic zone in western Ireland, which was one of the world's first, found it inspiring, and subsequently decided to set up special economic zones in China, including Shenzhen and the pearl river delta area, which were in some ways directly inspired by what he saw in western Ireland.
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Speaker
Patrick CollisonEvidence Quote
“one of the world's first special economic zones was created in shannon uh which was very close to 10-15 miles from where i was born deng xiaoping visited it uh and found this quite inspiring and so decided to set up uh special economic zones in china and so shenzhen and this sort of um the pearl river delta that sort of special economic zone was in in some ways directly inspired by you know what he saw in western ireland”
Source
Patrick Collison: Philosophies for Running Stripe, Hiring, Decision Making, and Reading— The Knowledge Project PodcastCreated: 8/10/2026, 11:17:01 PM
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