Hangzhou investment e-book

Hangzhou is a city with a great past and a brilliant future. Walking around town today is like leafing through a history book. The first record of human activity dates from the fourth millennium BC, and to the Liangzhu culture, which traded ivory, jade and lacquer. 

Fast-forward through the Tang and Southern Song dynasties, and you find a strong and confident city: a commercial hub trading silk, tea and porcelain, and an influential crucible of culture. One of China’s seven ancient capitals, Hangzhou was a vital link in the ancient Silk Road. Visitors would travel from far and wide to see the city’s wonders with their own eyes. The Venetian merchant Marco Polo described Hangzhou as the world’s most beautiful city, marvelling at its splendour and wealth.

That beauty and charm remains. Modern Hangzhou would amaze and astonish a traveller from the Tang dynasty. At the heart of the town lies the West Lake, as beautiful now as it was 1,000 years ago, its surface shimmering and clear, and surrounded by forests, Buddhist pagodas and 1,000 twinkling lights.

China’s president Xi Jinping once said: “We should regard Hangzhou in both relative and synthetic ways, which are based on the city and beyond the city,” while surveys conducted at home and abroad tout Hangzhou’s credentials as one of the country’s richest and most ambitious cities, driven by the brilliance of its public officials and private entrepreneurs, and one of its cleanest and happiest.

Moreover this is a city on the move, filled with brave and bold thinkers and achievers, always seeking new challenges and opportunities. In 2016, it hosted the 11th summit of the G20 group of leading nations. Its innovation, creativity and vitality are well-known: e-commerce is booming, thanks to digital firms like Netease and Alibaba, and rising stars such as social shopping service Mogujie. Zhejiang is the second-richest province in China as measured by income per person, while Hangzhou’s economic output topped $165 billion in 2016, driven by a host of core industries, from smart manufacturing to digital security, medical services to industrial automation, and cloud computing to big data.

The city benefits from everyone sharing the desire and the will to succeed. Corporates such as Alibaba and Geely invest heavily in themselves, notably via local R&D facilities that suck in technical and engineering talent from across the world. Economic and financial zones, hubs and belts, channel investment into the best ideas and corporates. And the fabric of the city is seamlessly joined by the excellence of its higher-education institutions, led by Zhejiang University, one of the best colleges in the world.

One of Hangzhou’s greatest assets is the willingness of its citizens to take risks, to be willing to fail once in order to succeed twice. Many cities tout their risk-embracing culture, but few really mean it. Yet be in no doubt: innovation and creativity is in Hangzhou’s DNA. Little wonder the World Bank regularly ranks us the Chinese city with the best investment environment. By the end of 2016, 135 domestic- and foreign-listed firms had set down roots in Hangzhou, a number beaten here only by Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Fifty of China’s largest privately owned corporates are headquartered in Hangzhou, yet more proof of our ability to attract firms big and small.

Going forward, our aim is to transform Hangzhou into a truly great international city. We are set to host the Asian Games in 2022, becoming only the third mainland city to do so. That offers us a great chance to showcase our city’s history and culture, and its compelling beauty and unique charm. We continue to build our municipal infrastructure, drawing other cities closer, and putting Hangzhou at the heart of the Belt and Road Initiative, China’s drive to rebuild the old Silk Road. We believe in promoting domestic, regional and global trade, more than ever.

And we will continue to seek new commercial opportunities. Over the next five years, we will promote and develop industries including culture and creativity, health, financial services, leisure, fashion and high-end machine equipment. In 2016, the New York Times named Hangzhou one of 52 great places to visit, citing our long and rich history, our museums and our friendly locals, many blessed with excellent English-language skills. It makes Hangzhou an ideal hub for the leisure and tourism sectors. We also plan to become a major exhibition centre, hosting regular high-end international conferences as we continue to develop Hangzhou’s global brand as a city with a great past and an even greater future.