“Zhejiang Supports the High-Quality Development of Wuzhen with the Whole Province’s Efforts,” Aiming to Build “Five Types of City”

As the permanent host of the World Internet Conference, Wuzhen, located in Tongxiang, Zhejiang, receives “top-level” support from the provincial party committee and government.
The Paper (www.thepaper.cn) learned from the 2024 “International Internet Town” launch event held in Wuzhen on November 19 that the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Government recently issued the “Several Opinions on Supporting the Construction of Wuzhen as the Permanent Host of the World Internet Conference” (hereinafter referred to as the “Opinions”), providing comprehensive support for the construction of Wuzhen as the permanent host of the World Internet Conference and leveraging the entire province’s efforts to support Wuzhen’s high-quality development.
On October 30, 2014, the State Council Information Office held a press conference to announce that Wuzhen would serve as the permanent site of the World Internet Conference. The first World Internet Conference was held in Wuzhen in November of that year.
After a decade of development, Wuzhen, an ancient town with a history of a thousand years, has become a golden showcase for “Digital Zhejiang” and a vivid example of China’s 30 years of internet development achievements. During last year’s World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, Tongxiang proposed to promote the construction of a 110.93 square kilometer “International Internet Town” in Wuzhen, extending the internet gene to the entire territory of Wuzhen.
The latest decision-making and deployment of the Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee and Government have pointed out the development direction for the future construction of Wuzhen’s “International Internet Town”. According to reports, the “Opinions” contain 20 specific measures, clearly supporting Wuzhen in building “five cities” from five experimental zones: exhibition, technological innovation, industry, openness, and lifestyle.
Specifically, the first is to support Wuzhen in building an “exhibition city”. Strengthen cooperation with international and domestic exhibition organizations, regularly hold high-end forums, professional exhibitions, large-scale competitions, and various activities such as the China Entrepreneur Leader Annual Meeting and the Global New Energy and Smart Automobile Supply Chain Innovation Conference, and establish a Wuzhen exhibition brand.
The second is to support Wuzhen in building an “innovation city”. Encourage the application for the construction of national and provincial innovation platform carriers, promote the construction of the Wuzhen Data Element Industrial Park, and attract more high-level scientific and technological innovation platforms, major scientific and technological projects, and high-end talents to settle in Tongxiang Wuzhen.
The third is to support Wuzhen in building a “city of digital-real integration”. Build a high-performance intelligent computing industrial base in Wuzhen, develop “AI+” equipment manufacturing, strengthen the construction of a national demonstration city for “vehicle-road-cloud integration”, accelerate the construction of a series of iconic major industrial projects such as the Wuzhen Flexible Electronic Material Park, and empower the integrated development of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries.
The fourth is to support Wuzhen in building an “open city”. Plan and implement projects such as the Tongxiang section of the Hangzhou Airport High-speed Railway, the Shanghai-Zhapu-Hangzhou Railway, and the Water Town Tourism Line; establish provincial and national overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, and build a high-level open platform with transportation and economy and trade as the link.
The fifth is to support Wuzhen in building a “city of happiness”. Establish the Tongxiang Internet School, promote the joint construction of a “future hospital” between Tongxiang and high-quality provincial medical institutions, create a “15-minute convenient living circle” for neighborhoods, education, and health, and comprehensively promote the integrated development of digital-empowered public services such as education and healthcare.
At the launch event, Tongxiang announced the changes and construction achievements of Wuzhen’s “International Internet Town” over the past year from four aspects: industry, technological innovation, culture and tourism, and people’s livelihood.
According to reports, Wuzhen is currently the place with the most cranes in Tongxiang. This year, 1 million square meters of new standard factory buildings have been completed, with 50% already reserved, and 80 digital economy enterprises have been attracted. The Wuzhen Intelligent Computing Center has been put into use, accelerating the formation of a “supercomputing + intelligent computing” dual-core drive. The landing of the nation’s first pilot cities for “vehicle-road-cloud integration” has also given Wuzhen a more complete industrial ecology.
Scientific and technological innovation enterprises are shining brightly in Wuzhen one after another. The “Home of Academicians” in Wuzhen has welcomed six more academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, and the academician resources have brought 27 high-quality projects to Wuzhen. The Wuzhen Laboratory has been established as a branch of a national key laboratory, and Wuzhen alone occupies two seats in the top 100 Chinese technological innovation unicorns.
Wuzhen’s cultural and tourism IP is becoming increasingly polished. This year, the 11th Wuzhen Theatre Festival attracted over 300,000 people in 11 days, and 611 exhibitions, conferences, competitions, and shows were held. Meanwhile, Wuzhen has also partnered with Bilibili, Tencent, NetEase, and others to open up more new cultural and tourism scenarios.
Advanced technologies are also continuously being implemented in Wuzhen. This year, Wuzhen has completed the “holographic digital road” on Internet Avenue, reducing travel time by 15%. The newly opened Wuzhen Smart Elderly Care Center can monitor various indicators of the elderly at any time. Drone inspections have been implemented in Wuzhen, enabling one-time collection and separate use of information for the needs of more than 10 departments.
Wang Jian, Mayor of Tongxiang, said that in the future, Wuzhen, as the permanent host of the World Internet Conference, will be embodied as “four towns”: a cultural and tourism town full of digital immersive experiences, a data town integrating space, sky, earth, and time, an innovative town originating automotive intelligence, and a green town with electric vehicles and zero carbon emissions throughout the entire area.