1. System advantages:
　　The reform of market economy system in Zhejiang Province has taken a relatively leading position with socialist market economy system fundamentally established: the proprietorship structure of keeping the public sector remaining dominant and allowing diverse sectors of the economy to develop side by side has been comparatively perfected, an open market system with orderly competition has initially been set up, a new distribution framework has taken shape, and multi-level social security system has primarily been established. A predominant advantage of the market reform has come into being.

       Zhejiang is a great economic province in China; its major economic indicators rank the top across the country.In 2007, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Zhejiang province is 1860 billion RMB Yuan ((equal to 244.6 billion US Dollars), increased by 14.5 percent than that for the previous year, ranking the fourth in China.The per capita GDP in Zhejiang reached 37128 RMB Yuan (equal to 4883 US DOLLARS), ranking  the first among all the provinces in China.

2. Location advantages:
　　On the southern wing of Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang boasts its peculiar location advantages due to its geographically “along rivers and seas, bridging the east and the west, and linking the south with the north”. The advantage is mainly embodied in four aspects:

　　Firstly, Yangtze River Delta is becoming the most vigorous and promising area in China’s economy. Zhejiang, as part of the Yangtze River Delta, is no doubt to enjoy enormous opportunities. With the continual acceleration of the construction of international economy, trade, finance and shipping centers in Shanghai, its huge convergence and radiation capacities are supposed to directly push the Yangtze River Delta area to a sustainable and sound development.

　　Secondly, in view of the internal Yangtze River Delta, Zhejiang owns resources and advantages different from those in Jiangsu in the economic linkage with the central city, Shanghai. That is, the development of Jiangsu is principally “along the river and road”. However, Zhejiang faces the sea and enjoys the peculiar ocean advantages, which is of great benefit for us to develop the ocean economy, global-market-oriented economy, near-harbor industry and logistics industry, etc.

　　Thirdly, a number of geographical factors encumbering Zhejiang from being connected with Shanghai and mingling into Yangtze River Delta in the past are now vanishing, and new advantages in some location factors are now becoming significant strength in the process of economic integration in Yangtze River Delta. For instance, the construction of cross-sea bridges will greatly shorten the economic distance between Zhejiang and Shanghai.

　　Fourthly, the process of economic integration in Yangtze River Delta is also the process of rise-up of city clusters in Yangtze River Delta centering on Shanghai. In the urbanization process, industrialization and informatization would inevitably follow. According to the international conventions, manufacturing industry will enjoy a prosperous development between the central city and nodal cities in a city cluster. This provides new opportunities for Zhejiang, the place located on the southern wing of Yangtze River Delta and in the intermediate/late period of the industrialization, to hammer out an advanced manufacturing base.

3. Industry with cubic features
　　The regional industrial areas bear the trait of “small commodities, large markets, low costs and high profits”, with the earliest start-up and the largest scale over the country, enjoying rather dynamic vigor and sound development foreground. As per incomplete statistics, in the whole province there are more than 500 cubic economic groups owning a gross industrial production value over a hundred million RMB, involving 175 sectors and more than 240 thousand enterprises, which accounts for around 50% of the provincial total production value, among which 52 sectors enjoy a domestic market share over 30%, and 14 sectors, a world market share over 10%. For instance, ties in Shengzhou occupy a domestic market share of 80% and world market share of over 30%.

　　Manufacturing industry featuring cubic economy is a momentous cause of the economic takeoff in Zhejiang, which will exert even greater effect in the next round of speedy development. Nowadays, round-Hangzhou Bay areas, Wenzhou-Taizhou coastal areas and  along the Jinhua-Quzhou-Lishui expressways, the layout of ten national manufacturing industry centers are rather clear at a glance. Upon completion of the construction, the convergence, radiation and scale effects would be more inspiring: the scale of the textile & chemical fiber industry, which focuses on the development of chemical fiber, chemical fiber fabrics, silk, warp knitting, household and industrial textiles, will account for around 25% of the national scale, forming important world bases of textile production and export; scale of the fine chemical industry is to account for over 15% of the national scale, the proportion of fluorine chemical industry is to be over 50% and that of organic silicon to be over 30%. In order to incorporate more automotive parts into international purchasing system and make its industrial proportion over 15% of the national scale, systematic supply and modularized technical production of auto and motorcycle’s parts should be strengthened. Manufacturing industry in Zhejiang is marching toward the higher level and more expansive domains.

　　Zhejiang has many specialized markets, which are large-scaled with strong comprehensive capabilities and broad spheres of radiation. The trade generally covers the livelihood and production means in all the fields.Zhejiang is also known as the “big market province”. The business volume of commodity market has ranked top in China for 16 years successively. Yiwu China Commodity City and Shaoxing China Light Textile City are both professional markets with the biggest scale of turnover across the country, in which the turnover of Yiwu China Commodity City is over RMB 40 Billion in 2007.

4. Coordinated urban-rural development
　　Zhejiang attaches importance not only to the leading role of cities but also the countryside and farmers’ motive functions to promote coordinated urban-rural development. In every local place, the urban-rural dualistic structure is positively broken. In combination with “the construction of a thousand model villages and renovation of ten thousand villages ” and with the urbanization as a carrier, every place makes overall plans, integrates resources, innovates the system and constructs complementarily. Accordingly the pattern of urban-rural integrated development that the city leads the countryside and the industry pushes the agriculture is formed, which further enhances the urban functions of convergence, radiation and promotion. Settlement of the “three issues on agriculture, rural areas and farmers” shall be given a top priority, the development level of profitable agriculture shall be continually boosted, the construction of new countryside shall be speeded up, the infrastructures in the city shall extend to the countryside, the laborer markets shall expand to the countryside and social assurance as well as public health service system shall cover the countryside, urban-rural economy and the social structures are gradually being integrated.

　　Zhejiang takes the lead in pushing the reform on the system of township enterprise’s property rights, the household register system in small towns and the market liberalization of the buying and selling of the grain, etc., which enables Zhejiang to be a pioneer in the nation in the aspect of coordinated urban-rural development. The increase of farmers’ incomes in Zhejiang takes the leading position in the nation for consecutive 17 years. Our province takes the lead in establishing the guarantee system of minimum standard of living, which is urban-rural integrated. Our province decided to formally implement the new rural medical care cooperation system and medical care system from August 2003. On the basis of a county, a uniform planning for serious diseases was carried out, with the focus on the subsidy for large sum of hospital expenses etc. of the insured farmers.

5. Ecology:
　　Zhejiang Province owns relatively independent geographical units and location advantages, and the ecological system features abundant diversity with a variety of biological breeds. Its environmental supportive system is only next to that of Tibet and Hainan, ranking the third over the country. The terrain slopes down from the southwest mountainous area to the northeast plain in a step-like manner, and the topography and water system are self-contained. The eight grand water systems in Zhejiang Province basically originate from the province itself and the water environmental system is relatively independent; river networks in the plain region is intensely spread and the water system is soundly developed; the holistic quality of water in the rivers and lakes is fine, and the water quality of most of the rivers meets or is better than grade III of the environmental quality standard for surface water. In the mountainous areas, forestry is densely distributed with nice vegetation and the forestry coverage, which is in the leading position over the nation. Meanwhile the rate of forestry coverage in the southwest areas of Zhejiang is even higher. Currently, 16 natural reserves at national level and 83 forest parks at provincial level have been established in the whole province. Zhejiang Province is one of the provinces which have the most forest parks over the nation.

　　Foundations of environmental protection and ecological construction are fairly good. Zhejiang Province has been the fifth trial province of the national ecological province construction. In general, the quality of the ecological environment in the province takes a leading position over the country. The tendencies of environmental contamination and ecological deterioration in the whole province get under control basically and the environmental quality generally keeps stable. Comprehensive clearance on the urban and rural environments is greatly executed in each local place, resulting in an improved residential environment in the cities and countryside. In every local place, farmers residing in high and deep mountains are positively guided and encouraged to move down.

　　There occur evident achievements in developing the ecology-oriented economy. The development of ecology-oriented agriculture, ecology-oriented industry and ecology-oriented tourism in the whole province enjoys an early start and presents rather favorable situation. The industry of green food and organic food such as tea, cans, fresh fruit, grain and oils, etc. keeps developing by leaps and bounds. The ecology-oriented industry, especially the environmental protection sector, develops quite fast. What’s more, a batch of bases of production-study-research and bases of distinctive industries are developed as a priority. Based on the rich resources of beautiful scenery and historic figures and cultural heritage in Zhejiang, the ecology-oriented tourism in our province is just on the rise, making Zhejiang an important province featuring tourism.

6. Mountains & seas:
 
　　Zhejiang is a terrestrial small province but a large maritime province. The maritime space area of 260 thousand square kilometers is 2.6 times that of the terrestrial area; the 3061 islands account for 2/5 of the total amount of islands over the country; the mainland coastline and the island shoreline totaling 6500 kilometers rank the first in China, among which 333 kilometers are precious deep-water shoreline over ten meters, and the resources of “harbor, fishery, scenery, oil and gas” are richly endowed by nature. In Zhejiang maritime space, shorelines where over ten thousand tons deep-water berths can be built account for 1/3 of the total over the country, and where 100 deep-water berths of 100 thousand tons may be built up ranks the first in China.

　　Zhejiang is known as “70% of mountains, 10% of water and 20% of fields”. The mountainous areas account for 70.4% of terrestrial areas. Due to some historical reasons, the mountainous areas are relatively less developed in our province, however, these less developed areas can be transferred into sequent advantages. Through developing regional resources of mountains and seas, it is to organically combine the economic advantages in developed areas with the resource advantages in the less developed areas, and to construct the less developed areas into the largest production base for green agricultural produce and base for tourism, sightseeing and recreational agriculture. Advantages of the abundance of labor force and low costs shall be adequately exerted to greatly boost the development level of the distinctive agriculture and cultivate a batch of agricultural leading enterprises.

7. Environment (soft & hard)
　　In the five years after 2005, “five ten-billion projects” will be taken as the mainstay, with the focus on building up the economically strong province through the project of “constructing ten-billion infrastructures”; with the focus on building up a digital Zhejiang through the project of “constructing ten-billion informatization”; with the focus on building up a strong province in science, education and culture through the project of “constructing ten-billion science, education, culture, health and sports”; with the focus on building a green Zhejiang through the project of “constructing ten-billion ecological environment”; with the focus on regional coordinated development through the project of “constructing ten-billion getting rich with help”. For each project, at least 10 billion RMB shall be invested annually and so the total investment into the “five ten-billion” project is to reach over 30 billion RMB. After the completion of the “five ten-billion” project, Zhejiang will look “brand new” in each aspect and the overall situation of the grassroots facilities will transit from “basically eased” to “basically adapting”. Appropriate precedence in some aspects shall be made for the construction of the national first-class investment and living environments.

　　By the end of 2007, railway networks shall be available within the terrestrial scope over the province, with over 75% coverage of expressways in the counties and cities; plus power procurement from outside the zone, generally there shall not be any “power cut” in the power supply; 10 million fixed telephone exchange networks, 8.10 million mobile phone telecommunications, transmission networks over 400G and 4 million users’ broadband network shall be established so that comprehensive portal websites of the governments at three levels—province, city and county—is to be basically formed, shaping a framework of “electronic government administration”; 200 high technology research & development centers at national and provincial levels and 100 key laboratories shall be set up to construct the nationally leading regional innovation system, education system and culture system; ecological protection forests, ecological economic forests, ecological welfare forests and forest parks totaling over 30 million Mu shall be guarded and planted; the backbone river courses of 10 thousand kilometers shall be harnessed to reach “smooth river and clear water”, urban sewage disposal rate and trash disposal rate shall reach 58% and 92% respectively, and the public green land per capita shall rise to 8 square meters.

　　With the promotion of administrative examination & approval system as sally port, Zhejiang exerts itself to perfect the social management and public service functions and create a better soft environment for development. Systems of “service hall” window examination & approval, parallel examination & approval and online examination & approval as well as system of non-governmental investment project registration & record, informed consent system and complaint centers are promoted, all of which greatly shorten the time spent on the examination & approval and offer convenience for the grassroots and people.

8. Human culture

　　One outstanding characteristic of Zhejiang culture is its rich economic flavour. In line with “prosperity in Qiantang from the ancient times” and represented by Yongjia academic school in Wenzhou, the conception of “equal focus on morality and profits, both industry and commerce as foundations” has been ever addressed since the feudal society, which is not only a peculiar feature in the Chinese cultural history but also deeply affects Zhejiang people’s ideological concepts and behavioral pattern. Another characteristic of Zhejiang culture lies in the traditional creativeness with strengths of both the inland culture and ocean culture. It also mingles the essence of Wuyue culture and culture in the central plains of China, reflects the exchange of Chinese culture and the western culture and forms a peculiar division in the Confucian culture.

　　The most distinctive in “Zhejiang spirit” is the enterprising spirit. “Constant striving, indomitable will, being creative and pursing practical results” are just a vivid portrait of Zhejiang people. They had the spirit of “never ignore any charitable deeds due to its pettiness” in the era of planned economy. During that era, a large group of Zhejiang residents left Zhejiang for different places over the country, where they were engaged in the jobs for which the locals show contempt. Now, a number of entrepreneurs of non-governmental enterprises with social status over a hundred million RMB are just from among this group of people. During that period, they were collecting waste for recycling, fluffing cotton with a bow, repairing shoes and forging irons, etc. However, they had never regarded such laboring as a shame. Instead, they managed to grasp any opportunity and accumulated precious experience for the later undertakings. Nowadays, many entrepreneurs with great achievements in Zhejiang are still keeping the habits of hardworking and thrift formed during their enterprising period. This is an important reason why the economy in Zhejiang can enjoy such sustainable, quick and benign development.

　　Among China’s famed cultural celebrities, there are over a thousand persons with Zhejiang origin, which accounts for 1/6 of the national total amount. Since the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, those with Zhejiang origin have accounted for nearly 1/5 of the academicians in the “two academies”. Since the reform and open-door policy, Zhejiang people have always been well known for their abilities to explore in every place under the sun. People in different sectors from Zhejiang can be found all over China and the world.