Hangzhou's value-added output rose 6.8 percent year-on-year in the first eight months of this year — the highest growth for the period in nearly five years — as the city accelerates its push into advanced manufacturing. The figure covers industrial enterprises above the designated size — those with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about $3 million).

At Hangzhou Sinchin New Materials, Deputy General Manager Ye Zhen said the company produces nickel powder smaller than 200 nanometers, a key material for chips, smartphones, and other electronics. Its output value is expected to exceed 400 million yuan this year.

The city's industrial growth has been supported by its "296X" advanced manufacturing clusters, whose output has increased by more than 7 percent for 11 consecutive months. The initiative includes two trillion-yuan-level clusters, nine 100-billion-yuan-level clusters, and six 10-billion-yuan-level clusters.

Hangzhou is also targeting emerging fields including AI, robotics, and aerospace. In Xiaoshan district, Cloudnine Information Technologies has shifted from hardware outsourcing to GPU products and liquid-cooled computing clusters, with annual output expected to exceed 10 billion yuan.

The city is also developing an AI-powered aerospace sector. More than 80 commercial aerospace companies and over 300 related enterprises have gathered in Yunqi town, while satellite production capacity has reached 300 units a year.

Industrial investment and manufacturing investment both grew by 13.2 percent in the first eight months, with several AI-related clusters posting more than 40 percent growth.