City Introduction of Zhejiang, China: Hangzhou

Major Economic Indicators (2007)

Source: Hangzhou Economic and Social Development Report 2007

Introduction

Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang province, is located on the lower reaches of the Qiantang River and in the northern area of Zhejiang. It plays home to the southern end of the Grand Canal (Beijing-Hangzhou Canal), the longest man-made river in the world. With its beautiful natural scenery, renowned cultural heritage and clean environment, it is one of China’s most important tourist destinations.

Situated on the plain of the Yangtze River Delta’s mid-lower reaches, Hangzhou is 180 km from Shanghai, China's economic hub. Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world's longest transoceanic bridge, officially opened on May 1, 2008. It shortens the distance from Shanghai to Hangzhou by 120 km.

Hangzhou has a well-established traffic network. Serving as the intersection point for the Hangzhou-Shanghai, Hangzhou-Ningbo and Hangzhou-Nanjing expressways, it is three hours away from other major cities in the Yangtze River Delta. Huhang Rail Motor Car cuts travelling time from Hangzhou to Shanghai to 78 minutes. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, opened in 2000, currently offers 181 airlines weekly, inclusive of 32 international airlines. It ranked tenth among all the airports on the Mainland in terms of cargo throughput and passenger throughput in 2007. 

Economic Features

In 2007, Hangzhou’s GDP rose 14.6% from the year before, reaching RMB 410.4 billion, of which 50.4% could be attributed to the manufacturing industry. The service sector, which contributed 45.7% to its GDP, is also a major contributor to the city's robust economy.. Hangzhou's GDP ranked first among all the cities in Zhejiang province and eighth among all the cities in Mainland China within the same year.

The city's pillar industries are machinery, electronic information, food & beverage, textiles, women's garments and pharmaceutics, which account for over 80% of the city’s industrial output. It is called the “capital of women’s garments” in China, with sales revenue (from enterprises with designated size and above) accounting for nearly 20% of the city’s total.

High-tech industries, especially the electronic information and bio-tech industries, play an important role in the city’s economy, which realized over RMB 108 billion in sales revenue, making up 13.2% of the city’s total. It has won the approval from the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner in China, to build the “National Industry Base” for electronic information and bio-tech industries.  As the home city of Alibaba, China’s largest B2B online portal, Hangzhou was granted the title of “Capital of E-commerce in China” by the China E-commerce Association in 2008.

Hangzhou’s retail sector is booming. In 2007, retail sales of consumer goods totaled RMB 129.6 billion, up 16.5% from the previous year and accounting for one fifth of Zhejiang’s total. Due to its beautiful scenery and rich cultural heritage, it attracted over 2 million foreign tourists in 2007 and gained over RMB 63 billion in revenue.

Foreign trade also plays an important role in the city's economy. The total foreign trade value edged up 11.7% year-on-year to US$43.4 billion, of which export value climbed 14.3% year-on-year to US$29.9 billion. Its major foreign trade partners are the U.S. (US$8.1 billion), EU (US$7.4 billion) and Japan (US$2.6 billion).

In 2007, Hangzhou attracted investments from fifty-eight Fortune 500 enterprises. The utilized FDI hit US$2.8 billion, up 24.2% year-on-year. Hangzhou’s five state-level development zones, namely, Hangzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone, Hangzhou Hi-tech Industry Development Zone, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Economic & Technological Development Zone, Hangzhou Export Processing Zone and Hangzhou Zhijiang National Holiday Resort, utilized FDI of over RMB 1 billion, accounting for 35.7% of the city's total.