Introduction of Hangzhou

 

        Hangzhou, one of the seven famous ancient capitals in China, enjoys long history and glorious culture. It is located in the northern part of Zhejiang Province to the south-eastern coast of China, and at the southern wing of the Yangtze River Delta, the lower reaches of the Qiantang River and the southern end of the Grand Canal. Hangzhou is the capital of Zhejiang Province and the political, economic, scientific, educational as well as cultural center of the province.

        Under the jurisdiction of Hangzhou are 8 districts and 5 county-level cities. It has a total area of 16,600 square kilometers and a population of 6.7764 million. The urban area covers 3,068 square kilometers, with population of 4.243 million, making it a regional metropolis only second to Shanghai in the Yangtze Delta area.

        As one of the ten most prosperous cities in China, Hangzhou has a strong economy and a robust market, and has maintained a two-digit economic growth rate for 19 consecutive years. In 2009, its GDP was RMB￥509.866 billion, with USD$ 10,968 per capita. The municipal fiscal revenue and local fiscal revenue reached RMB￥101.943 billion and RMB￥52.079 billion respectively. The gross industrial output and sales value surpassed RMB￥ 1000 billion and reached RMB￥ 1080.266 billion.

        In 2001 and 2002, Hangzhou was awarded “UN Habitat Scroll of Honor” and “International Garden City” respectively.

        From 2000 to 2007, Hangzhou was listed as “Highly Recommended Investment City by Taiwanese”

        In 2006, Hangzhou ranked first place in “City with the Best Investment Environment in China” released by World Bank.

        In 2006, Hangzhou was titled with “Best Tourist City in China” by State Administration of Tourism and UN World Tourism Organization.

        In 2007 and 2008, Hangzhou topped China’s Top Ten Leisure Cities.

        In January 2008, Hangzhou was awarded “City of Most Active Private Economy in China”.

        In May 2008, Hangzhou was titled with “China’s Service Outsourcing Base City”.

        In September 2008, Hangzhou was awarded “Capital of China’s E-commerce”.

        From 2004 to 2009, Hangzhou has topped “The Best Commercial Cities in Mainland China” released by Forbes for six consecutive years,

        From 2004 to 2009, Hangzhou was awarded “The Happiest City in China” for six consecutive years. In 2008, and also received the only gold award for “The Happiest City in China”.

        In addition, Hangzhou has won many honors, such as National Sanitary City, National Greening Model City and National Environment Protection Model City, National Forest City, City of Leisure, etc. Now, Hangzhou is building the city brand as “a city of quality life as good as world famous cities”.