Wenzhou boasts of an advantageous geographical location, a well-developed transportation network and flourishing hi- and new-tech industries that are supported by a strong talent pool. Through commerce and trade, the city is well-prepared to play an even more important role on the international stage.

Wenzhou is located on the southeastern coast of Mainland China. It is one of the three core cities in Zhejiang Province and the second-most populous city in the province. It is also recognised as a national civilised city, a national sanitary city, a national forest city and a national historical and cultural city.

Wenzhou administers 12 counties (cities and districts). It has a land area of 12,065 square kilometres and a sea area of 8,649 square kilometres. As of the end of 2019, it registers a permanent population of 9.3 million people.

Abundant tourism resources

Wenzhou enjoys a mild climate, with no severe winters and summers. Seventy per cent of the territory lie among mountains, 20 per cent are rivers and the remaining paddy fields. Mountains, streams, rivers, oceans, islands and plains adorn this beautiful land and nurture plentiful natural resources. Wenzhou is abundant in tourism resources, with three national-level scenic spots and a quarter of the city’s area consisting of tourist attractions.

A transportation hub

Wenzhou is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River Delta and Haixi (western Taiwan Strait) District and is one of Mainland China’s 45 major transportation hub cities. It has an international deep-water port, an international airport and an extensive network of railways, high-speed railways, metros and expressways. As a key transportation hub in the country, Wenzhou endeavours to further develop the Hangzhou–Wenzhou high-speed railway to realise a one-hour traffic circle between the two cities.

At the forefront of reform and innovation

Wenzhou has 36 national-level and 28 provincial-level reform pilot schemes. It leads both the province and the country in promoting private sector economy and social undertaking reforms. The city is also promoting in-depth transformation and upgrading of traditional industries such as electrical appliances, footwear, clothing, automobile and motorcycle accessories, as well as pumps and valves. Moreover, Wenzhou is accelerating the development of tourism, modern agriculture and a number of emerging industries, including digital economy, smart equipment and vehicles, medical and healthcare, new energy and new materials.

In recent years, the city has continuously introduced measures to improve its business environment, including “one-stop” procedures and online processing of all business matters. Its innovative “business through train” policy greatly benefits enterprises and has become an exemplary model for the province.

Enhanced industrial platforms

Wenzhou has formed a powerful “3+12+N” platform with the Oujiangkou Industrial Cluster, the Southern Zhejiang Industrial Cluster (Wenzhou Economic Development Zone) and the Wenzhou Hi-tech Zone (Southern Zhejiang Science and Technology City) , along with concerted efforts from 12 provincial-level industrial parks and towns with distinct characteristics. At the same time, national and provincial technology incubators and various public service platforms are being established to help the planning and construction of a new batch of towns and co-working spaces.

Opening up to the world

The city has attracted 33 investment projects from 21 Fortune 500 companies and has established the China–South Korea Wenzhou Industrial Park, while the China–Italy Wenzhou International Industrial Park is under construction. In 2019, Wenzhou recorded a total import and export value of RMB190.2bn, representing a year-on-year growth of 26.3 per cent. It is an active participant in the Belt and Road Initiative and its number of national-level overseas economic and trade co-operation zones ranks first among prefecture-level cities in the country. The construction of three major open platforms, which are Wenzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone, China (Wenzhou) Cross-border E-commerce Comprehensive Pilot Zone and the Wenzhou Linkage Innovation Zone under China (Zhejiang) Free Trade Zone, have received approval to commence. These measures have signified a new pattern in the country’s opening-up process.

Nurturing talent

Wenzhou has established a number of distinctive vocational colleges and R&D and training centres co-operated by schools and enterprises. It has implemented 40 new policies for talent recruitment and introduced the “Thousand Talents Plan” and other entrepreneurial projects, which have nurtured 24,000 highly skilled professionals. To attract more talented people to come to Wenzhou, housing security and children’s education have been provided. The city has been approved to build three national-level research centres, while more than 30 innovative institutions have settled in the “China Eye Valley”. There are eight first-class hospitals that cover the entire southern Zhejiang, northern Fujian and eastern Jiangxi areas and serve a population of 30 million people.

Booming private sector

Wenzhou is a city that is flourishing in trade and commerce as well as in the private sector. The private sector accounts for more than 95 per cent of the city’s economic activities. Wenzhou conducts businesses in every corner of the world. At present, 688,000 overseas Wenzhou Chinese have established more than 260 Wenzhou industrial and commercial entities in 131 countries and regions around the world. Nearly 1.8 million Wenzhou people are engaged in businesses in various parts of Mainland China. Moreover, 268 Wenzhou chambers of commerce have been established in cities above prefecture level in Mainland China. A Wenzhou business network is covering the whole country and stretching its arms to the world.