The government of Zhejiang province recently signed an agreement with Alibaba to launch the so-called 2020 Spring Thunder Initiative to promote the digitalization of its manufacturing sector, a move that is expected to make the Hangzhou West Science and Technology Innovation Corridor, where Alibaba is headquartered, a rapidly-growing innovation hub.

The corridor has been being built by the province since August 2016 to pursue innovation in the "Internet+" and life sciences industries.

It is now home to more than 60 universities and research institutes, including Zhejiang University and the Zhejiang Lab, with the latter striving to become a national-level lab.

The corridor also houses 19 workstations for Nobel Prize winners and academicians and 22 for postdoctoral fellows.

Last year, the area was responsible for more than 60 percent of the province's scientific and technological achievements that won national awards, and more than 80 percent of the province's key national projects.

The added value of the corridor's digital industries reached 162.6 billion yuan ($22.98 billion) last year, accounting for 87.7 percent of its total added value. In addition, Alibaba established a national innovation center there for the chip industry.

The current average annual growth rate of the corridor’s industrial added value is around three times the provincial average.

Furthermore, the government of Zhejiang is planning to promote the development of the area's industrial chain by attracting more Global Fortune 500 companies and skilled workers, especially in the digital fields.