Hangzhou teams up with HK to seize new opportunities

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province and dubbed "China's digital economy capital", is teaming up with Hong Kong to create more investing opportunities in tourism, talents and finance.

Connecting China's north and south through the Grand Canal, a UNESCO heritage site, Hangzhou is entering a new era, underpinned by the "along-the-river strategy" initiated by the city's government.

Zhou Jiangyong, a member of the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Hangzhou Party secretary, said, "stepping into the new era, we firmly hope that Hangzhou could cooperate with Hong Kong in every aspect, including the Belt and Road Initiative, industrial development, technology, education, innovation and tourism.”

Hong Kong has started as many as 6,000 projects in Hangzhou, with a total investment of more than $120 billion as of the end of last year. Famous Hong Kong-based companies, such as the Mass Transit Railway Corporation, Kerry Properties, Hang Lung Properties and Jardine Matheson, have already tapped into Hangzhou to land their projects, Zhou added.

Hangzhou companies have invested in 294 projects in Hong Kong, with the gross investment reaching to $1.1 billion, according to statistics.

Aware of how significant the collaboration is, the Hangzhou government held an investment summit in Hong Kong, linking to the city's private sector.

Known for technology giant Alibaba and innovative companies Ant Financial and Mogujie, Hangzhou is playing a role as a significant center of entrepreneurship. Some 13 of the top 100 unicorns on the mainland are based in Hangzhou, covering e-commerce, digital security, information software, smart healthcare, cloud computing and big data.

The Shangcheng district in Hangzhou plans to launch a "Wangjiang Intelligence Industrial Park" to further beef up the integration of finance and technology.

Chen Jin, Party secretary of Shangcheng district, told China Daily they have signed a cooperation agreement with the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council. This is to encourage more Hong Kong companies to open offices in Hangzhou, taking advantage of the Asian financial hub's mature financial service industry, as well as Hangzhou companies to start Hong Kong operations.

"After the opening of the G20 Hangzhou Summit, the city begins to be known all over the world," Zhou said. "By keeping an eye on global industry trends, by 2025, we will achieve an industrial development pattern characterized by a distinctive future, prominent focus, reasonable layout, full-chain integrity and significant benefits.”