A night view of Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/VCG]

Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province is exploring the construction of a digital free trade zone through the differentiated development of its functional zones, Hangzhou Daily reported.

The China (Zhejiang) Intelligent Computing Industry Innovation Park, which recently began operating, was the Hangzhou FTZ's latest effort to increase its expertise in artificial intelligence.

The FTZ is currently home to 21 key provincial laboratories focusing on data sharing, multidimensional perception technology, visual IoT integration, and mobile robot engineering.

To build as national fintech innovation and development pilot zone, the Hangzhou FTZ has not only realized the full coverage of a Chinese-foreign currency bank settlement account system across the region, but also promoted the use of digital RMB, or e-CNY, and developed a wide range of application scenarios.

With the pioneering Hangzhou Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Area, the Hangzhou FTZ has applied its cross-border e-commerce experience in over 131 domestic cities and its 283 overseas warehouses can reach consumers in Hangzhou's major trading partners of Europe, the United State and Japan, as well as in some African countries and regions.

The digital industrial cluster effect is also bringing tangible benefits to the local digital economy. For example, the FTZ's digital security industrial cluster, which was praised by Zhejiang province as a symbolic achievement, has witnessed the industrial value of digital security exceeding 270 billion yuan ($40 billion).

The headquarters of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province. [Photo by Niu Jing/For China Daily]