As the provincial seat, Hangzhou is the political, economic, cultural and transportation center of Zhejiang province and one of the core cities in the Yangtze River Delta area. Its industry is based on machinery, electronics, chemical-making, light industry and textile as the industrial pillars, with precision grinding machine, oxygen-making equipment products especially well-known. In 2008, Hangzhou's GDP reached RMB 478.1 billion, ranking the 2nd among the provincial seats of China and ascended to be the Top 10 Cities in Comprehensive Economic Strength in China. Its permanent-resident population is 7.966 million with a per capita GDP of RMB 60,826.

Hangzhou is a major transportation hub along the southeastern coast of China. Within its boundaries, there are fertile land, abundant produce and numerous specialty products. In history, Hangzhou has been lauded as "the silk capital". As an old saying goes: Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth reflects the paradise in heaven. Hangzhou is a famous tourism city in the world. In recent years, Hangzhou is endeavoring on the building of a Tiantang Silicon Valley (or silicon valley in heavenly paradise), with good development trend of new high-tech industry prioritized on new-type medicine, environment and new materials. This has already become a feature and advantage of Hangzhou.