Before you start

A valid residence permit
Your foreign licence, valid, with an accepted Chinese translation
A Chinese driver medical examination
Passport and temporary residence registration slip

Step-by-step

1
Understand that the IDP is worthless here
Mainland China does not recognise the International Driving Permit. Hong Kong, one border away, is a separate jurisdiction with separate rules, which is the source of most of the confusion. Driving on a foreign licence in Shenzhen is driving unlicensed.
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2
Get an accepted translation of your licence
The vehicle administration accepts translations from designated agencies. A translation you commissioned abroad will usually be refused at the counter.
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3
Complete the driver medical
A short examination at an approved hospital covering eyesight, colour vision and limb function. The certificate has a limited life; do it close to the application.
In personWho: You1 day
4
Sit Subject 1, the written theory test
One hundred questions from a published national bank, taken on a terminal, available in English. For ordinary car categories the field and road tests are waived when converting a valid foreign licence. Practise with a question-bank app — the test rewards familiarity with the phrasing.
In personWho: YouHalf a day
5
Check the current plate quota rules before buying a car
Shenzhen controls the number of new plates issued and allocates them through a combination of free lottery and paid auction, with separate and easier treatment for new-energy vehicles. The mechanism and the eligibility conditions for foreign residents have both changed over time, so confirm the current position with the municipal transport bureau rather than with a used-car dealer.
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6
Consider not owning a car at all
Shenzhen's metro is extensive and still expanding, taxis and DiDi are cheap, the entire bus and taxi fleet is electric, and shared bikes are everywhere. For a city this size the car-free case is stronger here than almost anywhere in China.
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Documents you’ll need

Passport and residence permit
Temporary residence registration slip
Foreign driving licence and accepted Chinese translation
Driver medical certificate
Passport photographs to Chinese specification

Things most newcomers don’t know

The practical driving tests are waived, which makes China easier to convert into than most of Asia.

Holders of a valid foreign licence converting to an ordinary car category normally sit only Subject 1, the written theory examination, available in English. Japan and Korea both require closed-course practical examinations that experienced drivers routinely fail. The Chinese exceptions are heavy vehicle categories, and applicants who cannot evidence enough residence in the issuing country during the year the licence was obtained — those can be sent to the full three-subject route.

Source: Ministry of Public Security traffic management rules

A Hong Kong licence does not work in Shenzhen and a Shenzhen licence does not work in Hong Kong.

The two are separate jurisdictions with separate licensing regimes and, notably, they drive on opposite sides of the road — Hong Kong on the left, the mainland on the right. Cross-boundary private car schemes exist but are limited and permit-controlled. Anyone assuming that living forty minutes from Hong Kong makes the two interchangeable is in for an expensive surprise.

Source: Ministry of Public Security traffic management rules

Shenzhen electrified its taxis and buses early, and you notice it.

The city converted its entire bus fleet and then its taxi fleet to electric vehicles years ahead of the rest of China. The practical effect is a large, dense city that is markedly quieter and less fumey at street level than Guangzhou or Beijing. It is one of the few genuinely pleasant surprises of arriving here, and it is also why charging infrastructure is unusually good if you do buy a car.

Source: Shenzhen Government Online

The metro plus DiDi covers this city better than a car does.

Shenzhen's metro network has grown faster than almost any system on earth and reaches essentially every district a foreign resident would live or work in, and DiDi fills the rest cheaply. Against that, you have a plate quota, peak-hour restrictions on out-of-town plates, and parking costs in Futian and Nanshan. The car case here is weaker than in almost any comparable city, and most foreign residents never make it.

Source: community-reported