New area to power high-quality development in Hangzhou

Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province, announced the establishment of a new area to stimulate high-quality development and regional growth at a conference on April 18.

Qiantang New Area, approved by the Zhejiang provincial government on April 2, consists of two areas in Hangzhou, namely, Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area (HEDA) and Hangzhou Dajiangdong Industrial Cluster across the Qiantang River.

The new area, covering an area of 531.7 square kilometers, comes as part of an effort to build a world-class intelligent manufacturing industry cluster and accelerate Hangzhou's integration into the Yangtze River Delta region by optimizing resource allocation, strengthening scientific and technological innovation, and accelerating industrial transformation and upgrading.

It is expected that by 2022, Qiantang New Area's major economic indicators will rank it among the top 10 national new areas, and the production value of Hangzhou's manufacturing industries is expected to triple by 2035.

Hangzhou Economic and Technological Development Area is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council in April 1993. In 2018, it ranked 9th among the 219 state-level economic and technology zones, the only development area in Zhejiang province to make it into the top ten.

The Hangzhou Dajiangdong Industrial Cluster is one of the 15 provincial-level industrial clusters approved by the government of Zhejiang province in 2010.

In 2018, the combined regional GDP of HEDA and Hangzhou Dajiangdong Industrial Cluster exceeded 100 billion yuan ($14.91 billion).