5-year blueprint to turn bay area into an innovation hub

With the coming of a new era of high technology and green economy, Zhejiang Province has decided to start a “Bay Area Economy Era.”

The government of Shaoxing, a city with long history, beautiful scenery, rich culture, as well as huge potential of economic development, is working on a five-year blueprint, through 2022, by developing the Great Bay Region, Great Garden and Great Channel.

Under the theme of “Hug the Great Bay and Develop Great Shaoxing,” the strategy is based on the city’s bay-side location, keeping the economy development eco-friendly.

A modern Zhejiang Province will also be represented through the Hangzhou Bay economic region. The Great Bay Region, which is centered on the Hangzhou Bay economic region, connects Taizhou Bay, Sanmen Bay, Xiangshan Bay and Leqing Bay, including the cities of Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Shaoxing and Zhoushan, which form a T-shaped structure.

Shaoxing is seen as one of the most innovative cities in China.

“Hangzhou Bay economic region is scheduled as a world-class bay area,” said Yuan Jiajun, governor of Zhejiang Province, at the 4th World Internet Conference in 2017. “And Shaoxing, located in an important part of the bay area, is definitely at a much bigger stage, with big opportunities as well as huge challenges.”

The high-tech and innovation industry will be the heart of the Great Bay Region, to make the city an “advanced intelligent base of economy.”

The Great Bay Region is also considered to be a wider opening-up of the city.

It is vital for Shaoxing to participate in the establishment of the Yangtze River economic belt and be deeply involved in the Shanghai metropolitan area and Yangtze River Delta city cluster.

Among the numerous heavy-weight companies and industries in the bay area, the integrate circuit (IC) will be one of the most important businesses that the city is developing and supporting.

The plan is to build up a complete industrial chain from designing, producing to assembling.

There will be several big projects of the IC in Shaoxing, including semiconductor manufacturing international (SMI).

The investment of SMI in the bay area in the first period has been as much as 5.88 billion yuan.

The Shaoxing National Exhibition and Convention Center, the new Grand Theater and the Art Museum will also be in the schedule, as well as several big commercial complexes such as Suning Square, Aegean Shopping Center and Baolong City Square.

The development of the city will not be at the cost of environmental protection.

The “Great Garden” strategy, along with the Great Bay Area, will be based on ecology and environmental protection, taking the preservation of natural scenery and reducing air pollution into serious consideration.

A mature network of transportation will be at the base of a modern economy and provide solid support for all the projects in Shaoxing.

There are currently 19 highways connecting Shaoxing and Hangzhou, which include 12 expressways.

Three new overpasses are being constructed in the city, which will make transportation more convenient in the future.

The Hangshaoyong Highway, which is regarded as a “super highway” connecting Ningbo, Shaoxing and Hangzhou with a designed speed of 120 kilometers per hour, is in the first period of construction.

Scheduled to be completed in 2022, the highway will be as long as 161 kilometers, including 24 kilometers as part of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge.