The Hangzhou area of the Zhejiang FTZ in Xiaoshan district. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

It has been one year since the China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone received approval to add another three areas, including the area in Hangzhou, to its existing Zhoushan area in 2020.

The Hangzhou area of the Zhejiang FTZ has attracted 97 projects with a combined investment of 75.4 billion yuan ($11.61 billion) over the past year, including six projects invested by Global Fortune 500 companies.

The new factory of Hangzhou Panasonic (Comprehensive Bonded Zone) Co Ltd was the first Global Fortune 500 project to break ground in the Hangzhou area of the Zhejiang FTZ, with construction beginning in June this year.

With a total investment of 300 million yuan, the 2-hectare smart home appliance manufacturing factory is expected to be put into operation in April next year and generate nearly 8 billion yuan in production value in five years.

It is the attractive preferential policies and favorable business environment in the Hangzhou area of the Zhejiang FTZ that has attracted so much investment.

For example, the Hangzhou area of the Zhejiang FTZ in Xiaoshan district released 27 measures to facilitate trade and investment. As a result, global membership warehouse club retailer Costco Wholesale Corp decided to open its first Zhejiang store in the district, while global auto parts supplier ZF Friedrichshafen AG opened another production factory there last year.

The clustering of market entities has also laid a foundation for more preferential policies becoming available.

Given that more companies involved in biological medicine industry have settled in the area, Hangzhou published measures in July to support the industry in pharmaceutical research and development, as well as overseas sales, which will be first implemented in the Hangzhou area of the Zhejiang FTZ.