At the official themed forum of the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the 2026 Headquarters Economy Conference and the Sixth Forum on Building Economy and High-Quality Urban Development took place in Beijing on September 11. During the forum’s urban high-quality development segment, Zhu Wei, a member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Hangzhou Xiaoshan Qianjiang Century City, delivered a keynote address. The following is the full text of his speech.
Distinguished conference organizers, leaders, guests, and entrepreneur friends: Good morning, everyone. People often say that falling in love with a city begins with understanding it. Qianjiang Century City is known as the “City of Two Major Events,” having hosted the G20 Summit and the Hangzhou Asian Games. As the core area of Hangzhou’s new urban center, it sits on the southern bank of the Qiantang River, covering a planned area of 35.17 square kilometers with a total population of 240,000.
Twenty years ago, Qianjiang Century City was nothing more than tidal flatlands ebbing and flowing with the river. Two decades later, it has evolved into a city CBD generating a regional total revenue of 240 billion yuan and fiscal revenue exceeding 10 billion yuan. With 41,300 market entities, 84 high-end commercial office towers, and one building achieving billion-yuan tax revenue, key economic indicators have maintained rapid growth for ten consecutive years since the G20 Summit. This area contributes one-quarter of Xiaoshan’s fiscal revenue, retail sales, and export volume, more than one-third of its land transfer fees, and over half of its for-profit service industry income.
Some might call this a miracle of “rising from the ground,” but we know internally that every step of this city’s growth has kept pace with national strategies. The G20 Summit, the Asian Games, the Yangtze River Delta integration initiative, and the common prosperity demonstration zone—these major national deployments have pushed Century City to the forefront. We simply did the right things at the right time. Today, I am not here to share stories but to present our accomplishments. We have sketched this report using three punctuation marks—not necessarily perfect, but honest enough. I sincerely welcome your feedback and guidance.
The first symbol is the exclamation mark. It represents the astonishing momentum of Qianjiang Century City’s growth. The four leading industries—“headquarters, finance, technology innovation, and events”—are the pillars of our confidence. Headquarters serve as the ballast for stable growth. Century City has already attracted 10 Fortune 500 projects and 18 municipal-level headquarters enterprises, gathering industry leaders such as Rongsheng, Hengyi, JD.com, NetEase, Zeekr, and CNNC Operations. Notably, the JD.com project advanced from contract signing to land acquisition in just ten months, setting the “Century City Speed.” Recently, four major headquarters projects—Hengyi Research Institute, Sungrow Power’s R&D center, Guming’s national operations headquarters, and Asia-Pacific Energy’s industrial headquarters—started construction simultaneously, alongside six more signed projects, with total investment exceeding 4.5 billion yuan and continuing to grow.
Finance acts as a catalyst for upgrading. As the core area of the Qiantang River Financial Harbor, the region has attracted over 200 financial enterprises, including Zheshang Bank, Xiaoshan Rural Commercial Bank, and Xintai Insurance. Among them are 16 provincial-level or above licensed institution headquarters, 20 banking institutions, and over 90 private equity funds, forming a development pattern of “headquarters leadership, fund clustering, and ecosystem empowerment.” Technology innovation is the driving force for capacity enhancement. Aligned with the innovation-driven development strategy, we have leveraged high-level innovation platforms like PKU Information Research Institute and Zhejiang University’s Computing and Innovation Institute to build a deep industry-academia-research ecosystem and focus on hard-tech tracks with precision.
Events create a strong magnetic field for resources. Century City boasts world-class venue clusters such as the National Exhibition and Convention Center and the three Asian Games venues, and we are committed to building a first-class events core area. Since last year, over 160 events and performances have been held, attracting 1.7 million participants and generating over 3.5 billion yuan in surrounding economic benefits, transforming “traffic” into a high-quality development “increment.”
The second symbol is the period. It represents the systematic thinking behind Qianjiang Century City’s approach to building a complete industrial ecosystem. In the AI track, we have developed the first “chip-module-application” full industrial loop in the Yangtze River Delta. Many ask: Century City does not build large models or manufacture chips, so how can it develop AI? Our answer is: act as a connector and enabler. The chip-module community, spanning 76,000 square meters, gathers over ten mainstream chip types and more than 90 large models, supported by 2300P of intelligent computing power. It has already provided landing solutions to 50 enterprises. This year, we launched the ZODA Data Open Source International Community and established model evaluation benchmarks. With the signing of Qujing Technology, the loop of “computing power foundation—chip-module linkage—data open source—Token production” is now fully connected.
In enterprise cultivation, we have also built a service loop centered on “early-stage investment, small-scale funding, and hard-tech support.” This year, we introduced a 1 billion yuan “1+3+N” angel technology innovation fund plan, incorporating a tolerance mechanism that allows up to 80% fund losses and 100% loss on individual projects, paired with a duty exemption list. With real investment and institutional innovation, we honor our commitment to “you take on the ventures, we bear the risks.” Concurrently, we leverage policy tools like the talent “establishment pool” and the “security shield” to support entrepreneurs from zero to one and from one to infinity.
The third symbol is the ellipsis. It embodies the boundless possibilities of Qianjiang Century City for the future. Future potential is driven by the rise of “super headquarters.” The Qiantang Bay Future Headquarters Base, recognized as “China’s most valuable headquarters economy functional zone,” is being developed through a “super headquarters plus industrial community” approach, with leading enterprises like JD.com and Asia-Pacific Energy securing early positions. Along the Qiantang River waterfront, the “headquarters economy golden corridor” is complemented by a gradient of industrial carriers—including core headquarters parcels with prime river views near JD.com’s Zhejiang regional center and the “new three venues,” transit-oriented developments above metro interchange stations, and three industrial R&D parcels of about 30 acres each tailored for smart manufacturing and hard-tech R&D headquarters. Additionally, the district’s first subdividable 100-acre intelligent comprehensive technology innovation park covers all scenarios from headquarters office to R&D pilot production.
Future potential also comes from upgrades in “livability and business attractiveness.” As a “post-00s” new city, Qianjiang Century City sees an average annual population inflow of over 22,000 people, with 70% of residents under the age of 35, driving our mission to build a city that appeals to youth. The nation’s fifth and East China’s first SKP shopping destination, alongside Zhejiang’s first MixC World, have both established themselves here, creating a first-class riverside commercial landmark cluster. Eighteen provincial-level prestigious schools, including Xuejun High School, Hangzhou No.2 High School, and Chongwen School, have gathered, with nearly 50 students sent annually to Tsinghua and Peking University. Multiple tertiary A-level hospitals, such as the Provincial Women’s Hospital, are fully operational, and we have partnered with Zhejiang University Second Hospital to build Century City Hospital, offering customized health services for key enterprises. Future art galleries, museums, libraries, and an international youth exchange center will form cultural landmark clusters along the central water axis, comprehensively addressing concerns about housing, education, healthcare, and cultural life for talent.
Dear guests and friends, an exclamation mark expresses the explosive power we have built through years of steady accumulation, setting new heights in urban development; a period represents our commitment to solidifying the industrial loop and answering the contemporary question of high-quality development; and an ellipsis signifies infinite possibilities ahead—how far a city can go depends on our imagination. This report is submitted, but the answers are far from complete. Qianjiang Century City is ready, embracing the same dedication as the daily tides of the Qiantang River, to join hands with everyone, ride the waves forward, and be pioneers of the new era. Thank you all!
Disclaimer: All conference transcripts are based on on-site speed notes and have not been reviewed by the speaker. This material is published for informational purposes only and does not imply endorsement of the views expressed or verification of the content.