Recently, the hit CCTV drama *Big Things in a Small Town* has brought Longgang, Wenzhou, to the small screen.

This city, which rose from the tidal flats to become "China’s Number One Farmers’ City," has won over countless fans with its stories of daring entrepreneurship and pioneering spirit.

Being a pioneer and daring to start businesses is not only a hallmark of Wenzhou but also a defining characteristic of Zhejiang.

Even before the New Year’s Day holiday had ended, Wenzhou was already holding its first meeting of the year.

Hangzhou’s Xihu District, Jiaxing, Shaoxing, and others followed suit, setting the tone for the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan. When it comes to attracting investment, whether projects can be transformed into productive capacity hinges on “action.”

Where exactly should we focus our efforts? How are trends shifting?

Drawing on TIS investment big data, the author has analyzed projects in Zhejiang over the past three years to help readers understand these trends.

01 Where Are Investment Preferences Headed?

Over the past two years, investment promotion professionals have likely all noticed that business owners have tightened their purse strings even further.

According to GuChuan TIS investment big data, from 2023 to 2025, corporate investment intentions across various regions have been relatively conservative.

However, this does not mean that all regions are the same.

Focusing on Zhejiang, we found that among projects intending to invest in the province, investment intentions dropped by 23% year-over-year in 2024 but rose by 6% year-over-year in 2025.

This indicates that after a period of short-term observation and adjustment, the market remains optimistic about Zhejiang.

Looking at the tens of thousands of projects intending to invest in Zhejiang, two distinct trends emerge: investment primarily flows within the province, while projects from outside the province are also entering the market.

Once these prospective projects enter Zhejiang, where do they primarily go?

According to TIS investment promotion big data, in terms of overall volume, investment intentions are concentrated in multiple cities, including Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing, Wenzhou, Huzhou, Taizhou, and Shaoxing.

When further broken down by investment interest, a three-tier structure emerges.

The first tier is unquestionably Hangzhou, the "traffic king." Leveraging its urban capabilities and talent density, Hangzhou firmly holds the top spot among investment destinations.

Whether it’s “second-stage ventures” by Zhejiang-based enterprises, projects from other provinces like Guangdong and Anhui “moving north and east,” or northern projects planning to invest in the south, Hangzhou is the top choice.

Especially since the “Hangzhou Six Little Dragons” gained widespread attention, we have received numerous expressions of interest from out-of-province enterprises specifically naming Hangzhou as their investment destination.

Overall, projects from outside Zhejiang Province intending to invest in Hangzhou account for 36% of the total. In other words, for every 10 companies from outside Zhejiang planning to invest in the province, 3 are considering establishing factories or expanding operations in Hangzhou.

The second tier consists primarily of Ningbo and Jiaxing. According to TIS’s investment promotion big data, both Ningbo and Jiaxing rank among the top three, whether for investments within Zhejiang Province or from outside the province.

A review of the charts shows that project origins are concentrated in provinces such as Guangdong, Jiangsu, Shandong, Fujian, and Henan. The overall distribution remains relatively stable, with only minor changes in the rankings.

Ningbo’s status as the China-CEEC Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Zone and the Ningbo Area of the Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone, combined with its port advantages and GDP strength, may well be the foundation of its market appeal.

Jiaxing, situated near Shanghai and Hangzhou and possessing relatively abundant industrial land, has become a key hinterland for absorbing the relocation of manufacturing industries from the Yangtze River Delta (particularly from Jiangsu and Anhui) and the Pearl River Delta.

The third tier consists of the “steadfast group” formed by Jinhua and Wenzhou. In investment intentions within the province over the past three years, Jinhua and Wenzhou have consistently ranked among the top four. Both cities are characterized by a strong private sector, relying primarily on the “return of Zhejiang businesspeople” and the expansion of local industrial chains to sustain growth.

They also possess a certain degree of appeal for attracting projects from other provinces. Jinhua, in particular, has become a key resource for investment promotion by leveraging its dual national logistics hubs for production and commercial services, combined with the advantages of its manufacturing industrial clusters.

In contrast, the number of projects intended for investment in Huzhou, Taizhou, Shaoxing, and other areas has generally remained in the range of several dozen.

Although they currently rank lower in terms of scale, they have a solid foundation and are progressing steadily, so their future growth remains promising.

02 Focusing on Which Industrial Sectors

For frontline investment promotion professionals, it is not only important to pay attention to where projects “want to go,” but also to understand “what type of projects they are.”

According to GuChuan TIS investment promotion big data, based on the national standard industry classification, manufacturing dominated projects intending to invest in Zhejiang from 2023 to 2025, followed by wholesale and retail, scientific research and technical services, and information transmission, software, and information technology services.

A breakdown of project types by year reveals a clear shift in industrial trends: a transition from traditional manufacturing to mid-to-high-end industries.

For manufacturing projects, the most frequently mentioned sectors initially were “textiles, furniture, paper, and rubber.”

As the industry undergoes transformation and upgrading, manufacturing has become more specialized, with sectors such as “computer, communications, and other electronic equipment manufacturing,” “general equipment manufacturing,” and “electrical machinery and equipment manufacturing” emerging as the new mainstays.

The author also noted a detail: after undergoing a rigorous process of natural selection, the scientific research and technical services sector has maintained a solid foundation, with the total number of projects consistently ranking among the highest.

Although annual data undergoes minor adjustments, this does not mean that R&D has lost its appeal; rather, the market is actively weeding out the fluff. Investors are no longer willing to pay for vague concepts but are instead focusing on practical projects with the ability to be implemented.

This "refining" reflects a shift in the focus of industrial investment promotion—from casting a wide net to cultivating specific areas with precision. The software and information services sector has also been precisely segmented into tracks such as "digital content services," "integrated circuit design," and "industrial software development," moving from mere quantitative growth toward substantive technological upgrades.

This demonstrates Zhejiang’s commitment to its “Number One Project for the Digital Economy.”

After years of dedicated cultivation, Zhejiang has achieved notable success in this field and has been approved to establish a new round of national-level pilot zones. The Zhejiang Provincial Party Committee’s Economic Work Conference held at the end of 2025 proposed fostering “New-Quality Zhejiang Business Leaders,” once again underscoring the importance of technological innovation.

Driven by local policies, investment in various emerging industries is likely to continue heating up. According to TIS investment promotion big data, the author has also observed a “green wave.”

The number of projects related to the production and supply of electricity, heat, gas, and water has increased, with the electricity production sector accounting for the lion’s share.

The popular sub-sectors within this segment are primarily concentrated in areas such as “solar power generation,” “wind power generation,” “hydropower generation,” and “biomass power generation.”

This indicates that the energy industry is beginning to expand toward higher value-added sectors.

Today, the core of green energy lies in utilizing advanced technologies to improve energy efficiency.

This indirectly confirms that investors are aligning with Zhejiang’s industrial trend toward “technological innovation.”

Regions possessing specific resource endowments (such as rooftop space or waste heat from chemical industrial parks) deserve particular attention.

Currently, [Investment Promotion Network] has listed a large number of high-quality projects seeking to establish operations in Zhejiang, facilitating efficient resource matching between government and enterprises.

To summarize, through Guichuan TIS’s investment promotion big data, the upcoming trends have become largely clear.

First, maintain the core foundation while pursuing “core upgrades.” The stability of manufacturing data indicates that Zhejiang’s industrial foundation is solid. However, investment focus should shift away from traditional sectors such as textiles and papermaking; the electronics and information technology and new energy industry chains may well be the new battlegrounds ahead.

Second, recognize the true value of “new services.” Do not underestimate software and information service projects. These enterprises, which can inject a digital “brain” into manufacturing, hold greater investment value than production-oriented projects within the context of Zhejiang’s digital economy.

As the national unified market advances, disparities in policy incentives across regions are gradually being leveled out.

As we stand at the starting point of the 15th Five-Year Plan, the new dividing line lies in the ability to look beyond cold, hard data to understand industrial shifts and precisely target emerging niche sectors.

Moving forward, the Investment Promotion Network will continue to monitor investment trends across provinces, publishing periodic trend analyses to help you stay abreast of the latest developments and seize investment opportunities at the earliest opportunity.