Zhejiang fast developing into innovation hub

The innovative spirit of Zhejiang entrepreneurs is the key to their enduring success, and will ensure Zhejiang maintain robust development, said Wang Hao, Party secretary of Zhejiang province.

Speaking on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Eighth World Zhejiang Entrepreneurs Convention in Hangzhou, the provincial capital, Wang highlighted the indispensable part played by entrepreneurs from Zhejiang.

"Private businesses have contributed 67 percent of the province's GDP, 73 percent of its tax revenue and 87 percent of the employment," said Wang. "And 96 percent of business entities in Zhejiang are from the private sector."

"For Zhejiang's entrepreneurs, innovation is innate — it is in their DNA and in their blood — and it is the winning formula for building lasting businesses," he said.

It is estimated that more than 6 million businessmen from Zhejiang live across China and another 2 million reside in over 180 countries and regions around the globe.

Figures from the Zhejiang provincial bureau of statistics show that the province's GDP surpassed 9.45 trillion yuan ($1.41 trillion) in 2025. During the first three quarters of 2026, its GDP grew to over 7.32 trillion, up 5.6 percent year-on-year and 1 percentage point higher than the national average.

New and emerging industries such as digital economy and artificial intelligence have become major drivers of growth, according to a report released by the Zhejiang Enterprises Research Center.

The core industrial output of the AI industry reached 700 billion yuan in 2025, while the high-tech manufacturing industry above designated size and the core industrial output of the digital economy increased by 16.2 percent and 15.5 percent, respectively, in the first half of 2026, the report reveals.

In recent years, Zhejiang is fast developing into an innovation hub, nurturing such prominent startups as DeepSeek, an AI company known for its open-source models; Game Science, which developed the global hit game Black Myth: Wukong; and Unitree Robotics, a global leader in quadruped robots.

Innovation is helping companies in traditional industries go through transition as well.

Leveraging a database of 700,000 patterns, Wensli, a major manufacturer of silk fabrics, has built the silk industry's first AI-generated content large model for pattern design, which can generate a first draft in just minutes, a task that usually takes two to three days.

Its self-developed machinery has also cut wastewater discharge by 99 percent.

"Innovation is not simply changing tracks," said Tu Hongyan, chairwoman of Wensli. "It is how new ways can be developed through new technologies to appeal to new generations."

It is imperative that businesses proactively embrace innovations like AI, promote the integration of digital technologies with the real economy and boost long-term competitiveness to break through growth bottlenecks, said Nan Cunhui, chairman of the CHINT Group, a leading smart and new energy solutions provider.

"Fishermen set out to sea not knowing where the fish are, yet they still choose to go, because they believe they will return laden with fish," said Nan.