The fifth session of the 14th Hangzhou Municipal People's Congress opens in Hangzhou on May 22. [Photo by Jiang Yue/Hangzhou Daily]

The fifth session of the 14th Hangzhou Municipal People's Congress commenced in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province on the morning of May 22.

Mayor Yao Gaoyuan delivered the government work report at the opening meeting, highlighting 2024 as a new starting point for Hangzhou in the post-Asian Games era.

According to the report, Hangzhou's GDP reached 2.19 trillion yuan ($303.45 billion) in 2024, up 4.7 percent year-on-year. The city's public budget revenue stood at 264.03 billion yuan, ranking fourth nationwide for the third consecutive year. Foreign trade hit 854.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.4 percent.

The report also stated that the city had over 2 million market entities and more than 1 million registered companies in 2024. It has attracted over 350,000 college graduates under age 35 annually for the past five years and remained one of the most attractive cities for foreign talent for the past 14 years.