A countdown clock marks the number of days till the opening ceremony of the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022 at Wulin Square in downtown Hangzhou, Zhejiang province on Monday. [Photo by Xiao Da/China Daily]

Seeking green development

With the environment improved, rural tourism has gained new momentum in Hangzhou. For example, Yueliangqiao village in Lin'an district has a new green pathway that not only offers convenient access to three tourist destinations but also improves business at surrounding bed-and-breakfast venues.

"At present, it takes people living in over 70 percent of Hangzhou's urban areas only five minutes' walk to nearby parks and other environmentally friendly places," said an official from the municipal and rural construction committee.

"The developed transport network has connected our villages and tourist spots, paving a road of economic boom and tourism prosperity," the official added.

Forestry has also blossomed in Hangzhou, with its annual revenue reaching 105.3 billion yuan ($15.2 billion) in 2019, the highest in Zhejiang province for seven consecutive years.

Gongshu district, an old industrial zone with a deep manufacturing basis, decided to change its reputation for heavy contamination in 2007 and sought high-tech yields.

Leading enterprises in digital media, digital life, digital healthcare and artificial intelligence, such as SF Express, Lenovo and Huawei, have been moved by Gongshu's determination and its friendly business environment. They are expected to generate annual output value of 50 billion yuan and pay taxes of 1.3 billion yuan.

Hangzhou realized GDP of 1.5 trillion yuan in 2019, a year-on-year growth of 6.8 percent. The added value of the local primary, secondary and tertiary industries rose by 1.9, 5 and 8 percent. The digital economy, culture and creative industries, and the health sector all maintained double-digit growth.

Improving people's living standards

Hangzhou follows a digital and intelligent path in grassroots governance, represented by using big data to manage daily traffic. For example, every traffic light and camera at crossroads are linked to an intranet system. The data they collect is analyzed by computers, and hence traffic signals can be controlled automatically and intelligently to ensure efficiency.

The city is also pioneering efforts to improve its City Brain system, as part of its ambitious plans to develop itself into an intelligent city. The City Brain system has now been deployed in 11 major areas, including transport, city governance and healthcare. Statistics show that the system coordinates and deals with an average of 120 million pieces of data every day. It is making the city smarter and improving the lives of its residents.