City of Innovation and Entrepreneurship

During the G20 Summit, the host city Hangzhou greeted both overseas and domestic visitors and participants with its high level of modernization, thriving art activities, and favorable environment for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Against the background of the Chinese government encouraging mass entrepreneurship and innovation, Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, has become a hub for entrepreneurs and achievers. Private businesses and e-commerce are booming here. In fact, Hangzhou was honored by the World Bank for having the best investment environment in China. It also appeared on the Forbes China list of China’s best cities for business.

Fueled by Alibaba

Alibaba Group, one of the world’s largest e-commerce companies, has been growing along with Hangzhou City for as long as 15 years. “Our employees have the courage to think and act,” said Liu Lu, public relations manager at Alibaba Group. “We are willing to help any of our employees who have great ideas to accomplish their dreams. Alibaba offers its employees not only a job, but also an opportunity to start their own businesses.” Liu added that the development of Alibaba embodies the progress made by many young entrepreneurs and the growth of Hangzhou City.

 

Staff at Tmall, a Chinese online retail platform operated by the Alibaba Group, at work at the Hangzhou office.

 

The rise of Alibaba has helped to attract a large number of talents and form a complete industrial chain, laying down a foundation for the development of e-commerce in Hangzhou. The famous quote by Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, that “everyone should have a dream” has exerted a far-reaching influence on Chinese society. Now “mass entrepreneurship” has been thriving in the Internet industry in Hangzhou, with batches of entrepreneurs having already achieved success.

So far, the city has become home to one third of e-commerce websites in China. Statistics show that in 2015 there were 262,300 active online retailers in Hangzhou, ranking it first in Zhejiang Province. According to the provincial commerce department, the value added by e-commerce in Hangzhou has hit RMB 82.654 billion, earning it a reputation as China’s “e-commerce capital.”

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