Post-G20: Hangzhou Builds Stronger Ties with Southeast Asia – An Interview with Mayor of Hangzhou Zhang Hongming

A panorama of Hangzhou and the West Lake. Yu Guangming 

Second, the summit greatly improved the quality of Hangzhou’s economic development. The successful hosting of the G20 Summit brought new opportunities for the city’s economy, significantly promoting Hangzhou’s tourism, information service industry, cultural creativity industry, and financial insurance industry, as well as attracting foreign investment. In the first three seasons of 2016, Hangzhou’s GDP increased 10 percent year-on-year after topping RMB 1 trillion in 2015, so maintaining a two-digit increase for six consecutive seasons. The percentages of the primary, secondary, and tertiary industries of the economy have been further optimized to 2.7, 36.2, and 61.1 respectively. Services contributed 78.5 percent to growth of the city’s GDP, and information economy accounted for 50 percent of local GDP growth. Hangzhou has thus preliminarily formed an industrial structure, with information economy as a pioneer, high-end services as a leader, and advanced manufacturing as a pillar. 

Third, the summit strengthened Hangzhou’s soft power. In the wake of the G20 Summit, Hangzhou can now make the most of its legacies of infrastructure and international-standard venues. Hangzhou formed a smoothly functioning mechanism and accumulated rich experience from the construction of venues, environmental improvements, conference management services, security services, and the creation of a social ambience. All of these also helped the city to improve its public services and management, and laid a solid foundation for further hostings of large international conferences. 

Picturesque scenery in the Hangzhou countryside. Li Maoxiang 

While making preparations for the summit, Hangzhou also took the opportunity to promote civility among citizens. Hangzhou issued the citizens’ code of conduct as host of the G20 Summit and launched a series of campaigns, including “Polite Hangzhou People,” so encouraging citizens to develop with the city. As a result, Hangzhou’s “Courtesy on Zebra Crossings” and the image of its citizens as “well behaved, polite, calm, and confident” and hence walking “human scenery” continue to impress.