Xihu District

About Xihu District 

Xihu District, where the CPC Provincial Committee and the Province Government of Zhejiang are stationed, is famous for its unrivaled natural beauty and enchanting cultural heritages, particularly the West Lake and the Xixi Wetlands. People can enjoy its modern facilities and amenities aptly set in an ethereal Jiang’nan (i.e. the south of the Yangtze River) vibe, share heartstring-tugging stories such as the Legend of White Snake, and live vibrant, high-quality lifestyles here. For many consecutive years, Xihu has been in the ranking of China’s Top 100 for its overall strength, investment opportunity, and innovative capability. Strategic action plans (“the Six-six Initiative”) are rolled out with leapfrog development, innovation in public services, and the people’s satisfaction as key priorities. Also, the district has the goal of transforming itself into a pacesetter in science, education, culture, and entrepreneurship. Being at the east end of the Chengxi Sci-Tech Innovation Corridor and at the core of the Zhijiang Cultural Industry Belt, Xihu leverages its resources wisely and, with consolidated efforts for innovation sustainability, strives to become a central arena to spur innovations, accelerate the commercialization of technological advances, and foster a booming “sweet-potato economy.” Its vast resources of human intelligence and tech infrastructures proudly makes Xihu home to a full-life cycle from ideas to realities, thanks to its 46 universities or research institutions, like ZJU, WLU, CAA and Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS, and the only one national lab in the province. It also spearheads in digital economy. Coupled with the headquarters of Ant and Aliyun, Zijingang Sci-Tech City, WLU Town, Yunqi Town and Xixi Valley are also role-model parks for multi-dimensional business (air, space, ground, and sea), integrated circuits, life and healthcare, cultural and creative contents, and other booming industries.

Talent Policy

Xihu District offers thoughtfully designed services for entrepreneurial talents in its Westlake Talent Start-up Grant Scheme, attracting high-level pros and startup teams at home and abroad in emerging industries, such as artificial intelligence, healthcare, high-end equipment manufacturing, etc. Those with solid experience in academic research and commercialization of technological advances, as well as startups that are less than three years old, have opportunities to be graded and accordingly funded after the call for entries, qualification review, proposal review, and other procedures. Companies that have not yet registered in Xihu District are eligible for filing and grading first, as registration can be done at a later date.

Projects will be graded as category A, B, C, or D. Funding for a business start is up to RMB 10 million. Other incentives include a subsidized loan of up to RMB 5 million, an office rent subsidy of up to 300 square meters, and a housing subsidy of up to RMB 30,000 per year per person. Project holders can also enjoy priorities for healthcare, culture, sports, tourism, children’s schooling, etc.

Industrial Policy

Xihu District has customized policies to nurture digital economy, new manufacturing, metaverse, and cultural initiatives. The funding for scaling up each digital economy enterprise is up to RMB 4.2 million; for a specialized enterprise that produce new and unique products, it is up to 2 million; for a metaverse platform, it is up to 2 million; and for an outstanding cultural work, up to one million. Partnering with Alibaba Cloud, “West Lake Enterprise Service”, the first AI platform to serve enterprises in Zhejiang, has been launched. Enterprises can chat with “Xixiaofu”, the AI assistant, to inquire about government policies and track project applications. The additional service window at the district’s Administrative Service Center has eight functions (e.g., talent, finance), which is helpful in consolidating online and offline services and efficiently addressing enterprises’ issues. There are also 20 “Business Environment Experience Officers”, who are revered scholars, business association representatives, or front-line workers, appointed to improve its business environment and better serve enterprises.

Major Innovation Platforms and Featured Industrial Parks

Xihu District strives to facilitate innovation in digital, scientific, and cultural activities and grow into a pacesetter for innovation and research findings translation. Yunqi Town, one of the earliest industry towns in the country, is building an RMB-100-billion ecosystem of multidimensional business (air, space, ground, and sea) with both digital and physical applications. Focus is being particularly placed on digital economy, aerospace information, and intelligent manufacturing. Zijingang Sci-Tech City is home to two premium universities, Zhejiang University and Westlake University, as well as leading enterprises such as Alibaba Cloud, Youngsun Intelligent Equipment, Agilent, and Di’an Diagnostics. Artinno Town, thanks to the artistic resources of China Academy of Art and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, accommodates nearly 3,000 cultural and creative content producers, forging an enabling atmosphere for creative design, media, film, television, and animation. Xixi Valley excels at combining finance with technology and fosters a fully-fledged network in which resources are shared, and Ant Group and Zhejiang Venture Capital are bursting with vitality. Westlake University, a new type of higher education funded by the private sector and supported by the state, aims at cultivating top-notch talents and generating first-class results in cutting-edge fields, like healthcare and natural science. Hangzhou Institute for Advanced Study, UCAS prioritizes talent cultivation, scientific research, and entrepreneurship, building an ecosystem that incorporates professional recruitment, student training, R&D, and the translation of research findings. BGI Research Hangzhou, dedicated to basic research in life sciences, has set up a global center for research, academia, and business of genomics. It has the potential to become a world-class platform for China’s self-support core equipment in genomics.