The Binjiang business district sits along the Oujiang River in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]
During the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), Wenzhou in East China's Zhejiang province opened up to foreign countries as a trade port. Today it is known for business.
As one of the birthplaces of China's market economy, Wenzhou has been developing its economy to be "private-run, private-owned, private-funded, to enrich people, to be shared by people".
Statistics show that private enterprises account for more than 95 percent of the city's total enterprises. Industrial output, foreign trade exports, and the number of new jobs those private enterprises create also account for more than 95 percent the city's total, showing the success of the "Wenzhou Model".
Wenzhou is home to 46 national production bases, including the Capital of Electric Appliances in China and the Capital of Shoes in China. It has earned titles such as National Quality Model City and National Intellectual Property Model City, and was among the first national model cities for social credit system construction.
Currently, 1.75 million people in Wenzhou are doing business in various places in China, thriving with their sharp minds and business acumen. There are about 700,000 overseas Chinese of Wenzhou descent around the world, forming a comprehensive business network that covers the whole country and connects the world.
In recent years, Wenzhou has deepened efforts to become a "two healthy" (the healthy development of the non-public economy and the healthy growth of non-public economic personnel) pioneer area, and the evaluation index system it set up for the purpose was widely promoted across the country. It also launched the Wenzhou Private Entrepreneur Festival.
In the 2020 Business Environment Evaluation by 10,000 Private Enterprises report, Wenzhou ranked sixth in the country, topping the province in terms of the growth rate of private investment, industrial investment, and industrial technological transformation investment. The number of enterprises above designated size – those with annual revenue of 20 million yuan ($3.09 million) or more – that have recently expanded from a small size, and the number of enterprises newly upgraded from individual businesses in Wenzhou also ranked first in the province.
According to official data, Wenzhou currently has more than 1.36 million registered market entities and 404,000 enterprises.
In accordance with the "two-wheel driven manufacturing development" strategy, Wenzhou puts equal emphasis on promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries – such as electrical appliances, footwear, clothing, auto and motorcycle parts, and pumps and valves – and cultivating strategic emerging industries, including digital economy, intelligent equipment, life and health, new energy, and new materials.
Wenzhou's electrical industry has appeared on the list of China's 20 advanced manufacturing cultivation clusters, with its traditional manufacturing transformation and promotion level index and digital economy development comprehensive evaluation index both ranking second in the province.
