{"id":36003,"date":"2014-05-05T16:50:15","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T15:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/hangzhou-cocon-high-tech-20140505.html"},"modified":"2016-02-10T10:17:42","modified_gmt":"2016-02-10T09:17:42","slug":"hangzhou-high-tech-cocoon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/hangzhou-cocon-high-tech","title":{"rendered":"Hangzhou: a high-tech cocoon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Who could place Hangzhou on a map? And yet, like many of China's 'secondary' cities, the capital of Zhejiang province is far from being a sleepy little town. In fact, the city is home to almost nine million people. Situated 180km south-west of Shanghai, it can be reached in an hour by high-speed train from the megalopolis. Although hordes of tourists in brightly coloured bobsleighs visit this former imperial city of the Song dynasty every year, Hangzhou is nonetheless one of the country's economic powerhouses. The capital of Chinese tourism, described in the 13th century by Marco Polo as \"the most beautiful and elegant city in the world\", is planted around a vast lake, in front of bamboo groves from which UNESCO World Heritage temples emerge, and is enjoying extraordinary growth rates, fluctuating between 9 % and 12 % a year.<\/p>\n

Private investment<\/h2>\n

\"Hanzghou is a leading city in the Chinese private sector, with 95 % of its companies locally owned and independent.<\/em>says Wei Shen, China Director of BUY.O, which specialises in creating partnerships between French and Chinese companies. Backed by its history, its marvellous location and its lush green tea plantations, Hangzhou is banking on quality of life, with a certain - albeit relative - form of Chinese-style Zen art of living.<\/p>\n

Voted \"happiest city in China\" in 2009, the city is a hotbed of industry and, above all, services. The Alibaba group, a global player in B2B exchanges and e-business platforms, and owner of China's biggest consumer networking site, taobao.com, is just one example of the major companies that have developed here. Today, a number of technology parks, such as the Hangzhou High Technology Development Zone, are emerging to accommodate companies specialising in information technology, with a particular focus on software development, as well as companies producing equipment and spare parts for the automotive, aerospace, household appliance and telecommunications industries.<\/p>\n

Technological momentum<\/h2>\n

\"XiaoshanIn 2009, Hangzhou's investment in research and development amounted to 2.6 % of its GDP, above the national average of 1.7 %. In the same year, 15,507 patents were authorised. \"Hangzhou is China's Geneva. Thanks to its geographical location in one of China's richest regions, once an imperial city, it is becoming the capital of services and new technologies.<\/em>Wei Shen continues. The municipality of Hangzhou openly favours a non-polluting economy based around creative and technological industries. It even intends to become China's Silicon Valley. By 2015, services should account for almost 50 % of GDP, compared with 35 % at present. To this end, young companies planning to set up in this field are receiving a major boost from the municipality in the form of substantial subsidies, plus up to three years' free rent.<\/p>\n

Today, the city is also investing in the solar energy sector, encouraging the production of photovoltaic and wind power equipment, as well as vehicles powered by new energies. In 2009, the municipality of Hangzhou pledged to reduce its CO2 emissions by 50 % by 2020 compared with 2005, i.e. 5 to 10 % more than the national target. In 2010, the city reinvested more than 13 % of its annual GDP in the development of these sustainable energies, and intends to boost this sector by between 15 % and 20 % of annual growth over the next few years. Hangzhou already has more than 150 companies involved in new energies and environmental protection, including Astronergy, Sunny Energy, Wanxiang Energy, etc. In general, Zhejiang province is promoting sustainable development. From 2011 to 2013, Hangzhou invested several million euros a year in the installation of solar roofs and increased the number of its industrial parks in the field of green and renewable energy.<\/p>\n

Connected to the rest of the world<\/h2>\n

\"Even if Hangzhou focuses on the Chinese market, more and more private local companies are starting to invest abroad, especially as the mentality here is open and the bosses respect and are familiar with the Western rules of the game.<\/em>concludes Wei Shen. This also explains why this economic and cultural hub is so well connected, not only to the rest of China, but above all to the major cities of Asia. Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport has direct flights to Tokyo, Osaka, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macau and Seoul. Further afield, the city is linked to Amsterdam and, since December 2013, to Doha. In fact, a growing number of foreign companies are beginning to set their sights on Hangzhou. The American Ford has already set up there to assemble its Lincolns. Sony and Panasonic also have a presence here, as do many Japanese who have rediscovered some of Japan's gentle way of life.<\/p>\n

Silk and green tea, which once made Hangzhou rich, anchor the city in a tradition and a certain art of living. Today, these two activities account for only a small part of the city's GDP, but there are still several hundred silk production companies. The city is often referred to as the home of \"women's ready-to-wear\", because of the quality of its products rather than mass production. A number of design schools have been set up here, including the Zhejiang University of Science and Technology and the Zhejiang Institute of Science and Technology, which train engineers as well as young fashion designers.<\/p>\n

An artistic spirit<\/h2>\n

Hangzhou may be pragmatic, but it is also artistic. For centuries, on the shores of the Western Lake, painters and calligraphers have practised the art of the landscape. Its School of Fine Arts, one of the most prestigious in the country, was founded in 1928. \"There are three major art schools in China: the Central School of Fine Arts in Beijing, the former Beijing School of Decorative Arts, now the School of Fine Arts at Qinghua University, and the Hangzhou School of Fine Arts, also known for its Chinese painting department.<\/em>explains Wang Xueqing, professor and former head of the design department. \"And one of our city's strengths is precisely its excellent universities, which train very good students who then go on to secure our future.<\/em> It's true that the creative industry is growing in Hangzhou, where the national comics fair is held every year.<\/p>\n

Proof that prosperity and creativity, even extravagance, go hand in hand in Hangzhou is the fact that there are few Chinese cities where so many wealthy businessmen have embarked on surprising projects. In 2007, one developer built Tiandu Cheng, a residential area replicating the main monuments of Paris. More recently, another has bought himself a P\u00e9rigord ch\u00e2teau with cellars, outbuildings and stables, which he intends to rent out for corporate seminars... China has its reasons that reason ignores.<\/p>\n