The Chinese government has approved a plan to boost service sector cooperation between the booming southern city of Shenzhen and Hong Kong, local authorities said Friday.

Under the plan, Shenzhen will build a 15-square-km service industrial zone in Qianhai in Nanshan District, said Xu Chongguang, deputy director of the Shenzhen municipal committee of planning, land and resources.

Xu said Shenzhen would invest 40 billion yuan (US$5.9 billion) to build the zone that will house financial institutions and logistics, technology, telecommunications, media and commercial companies.

It is estimated that the zone's gross domestic product will grow to 150 billion yuan by 2020.

"Financial cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong will be a main priority for the Qianhai zone," said Li Lin, director of the municipal finance office.

The Renminbi settlement business is a breakthrough for the two sides' financial cooperation, Li said.

Fang Yan, an analyst with Guosen Securities, said the zone would become a bridgehead for foreign capital to enter China and domestic businesses to expand in the world.

Shenzhen marked its 30th anniversary as a special economic zone on Thursday.