The newly renovated Hubin Pedestrian Street reopens to the public on the evening of Sept 27. [Photo/IC]

The newly renovated Hangzhou Hubin Pedestrian Street reopened to the public on the evening of Sept 27.

A gathering of dignitaries led by Wang Bingnan, deputy minister of the Ministry of Commerce, attended the grand opening, along with nearly 30,000 visitors. 

Early this year, the renovation project, along with 10 similar projects carried out on famous pedestrian streets such as Beijing Wangfujing Pedestrian Street and Shanghai Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, were designated by the Ministry of Commerce as national demonstration projects for the renovation of pedestrian streets.

According to the commerce ministry, the renovation work was meant to create a series of world-class pedestrian streets. 

After nine months of work, the length of the pedestrian street was increased to nearly 2,000 meters from the previous 650 meters and more retail shops were added. 

The pedestrian street is located near the well-known West Lake, a World Cultural Heritage Site. 

According to statistics, growth in retail sales of consumer goods in Hubin commercial area has remained over 10 percent every year over the past five years, and Hubin Pedestrian Street alone contributes nearly one third of the total.