The skyline of Qianjiang New Town in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo/IC]

Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, has dramatically grown from a tourist-oriented place to an emerging city with a strong digital economy, according to a news conference held by local authorities on Sept 16.

The conference was held in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, highlighting the remarkable growth that Hangzhou has witnessed over the past seven decades.

Statistics show that the added value of Hangzhou's digital economy reached 335.6 billion yuan ($47.45 billion) in 2018, accounting for 24.8 percent of the city's GDP. It is also home to Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba and a number of other world-leading high-tech companies.

Last year, Hangzhou unveiled its ambitious plan to become the nation's foremost city in terms of the digital economy, focusing on three major development paths -- industrialization of digital resources, digitalization of industries, and digitalization of urban areas. 

To this end, Hangzhou will focus on the innovation and application of digital technologies and increase support for major platforms and projects, according to officials.

Aside from its booming digital economy, Hangzhou also witnessed strong growth in its regional GDP over the past 70 years, which increased from 255 million yuan in 1949 to 1.35 trillion yuan in 2018, a factor of 945.8, making it the 10th Chinese city to join the trillion-yuan GDP club last year.

In 2018, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents in Hangzhou reached 61,172 yuan and 33,193 yuan respectively, an increase of 180 times and 203.9 times over 1978.