History

One of the birthplaces of Chinese civilization and ranking among the seven ancient capitals in China, Hangzhou stands out as the "Famous Town of Southeast China". The excavation of the Kuahu Bridge site located in the city's Xiaoshan district indicates that as early as 8,000 years ago the place already saw thriving human activities. The 5,000 year-old Liangzhu culture is hailed by historians as "the dawn of civilization". First set up as a county in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), Liangzhu has a past of over 2,200 years. In the 9th year of Emperor Yang Jian, founder of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the old Qiantang County (today's Hangzhou) was abolished and replaced by Hangzhou (Hang prefecture), marking the first appearance of its current name. Hangzhou was a marvel to 13th century Italian traveler Marco Polo who called it "the most graceful and splendid city of the world".

Economy

In 2019, Hangzhou saw stable economic growth with a gross domestic product (GDP) of 1.54 trillion yuan ($218.3 billion), a year-on-year increase of 6.8 percent.

The city saw robust growth in both its digital economy and manufacturing industry in 2019.

The above-scale industrial added value of the city was 353.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.1 percent. High-tech companies contributed nearly 61.7 percent of the city's total added value, 4.5 percentage points higher than last year.

The added value of core digital economy industries in Hangzhou last year was 379.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.1 percent.

The added value of the service industry in Hangzhou last year was 1.02 trillion yuan, the first time it has exceeded 1 trillion yuan. It accounted for 72.9 percent of the city's total GDP growth. The added value of the financial service industry was 179.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.1 percent.

In 2019, 22 new companies in Hangzhou went public, bringing the total number of listed companies in the city to 191, ranking fourth among Chinese cities.

The added value of the city's healthcare industry was 97.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.5 percent, while the added value of the cultural creation industry was 373.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.6 percent.

The per capita disposable income of Hangzhou permanent residents last year was 59,261 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9 percent. In urban areas, the average was 66,068 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8 percent, while for rural residents, it was 36.255 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.2 percent.

The public budget expenditure of Hangzhou last year was 195.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 13.7 percent, while expenditures on improving people's livelihood accounted for 78.6 percent of the general public budget.