Hangzhou is a pioneer in digital economy and is striving to achieve new highs in this area. It is said that by 2025, the city is expected to see the value of its digital economy core industries exceed 2 trillion yuan ($283.2 billion), accounting for over 30 percent of its GDP.

How has Hangzhou secured its leadership in digital economy? Here are some clues.

Early involvement

Back in 2002, the Zhejiang provincial government made a decision to develop "a digital Zhejiang", directly contributing to Hangzhou's strategy of putting more technological impetus into its Bingjiang area.

In 2018, the city was the first domestic city to establish a strong focus on developing the digital economy. It has hence attracted over 1,000 industrial leading enterprises and gradually formed industrial clusters for cloud computing, e-commerce, big data, and digital security.

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