Ancient Shaoxing looks to be int'l textile capital

Dubbed the "Textile Capital of China," Shaoxing is famous for its light and textile industries and flourishing private economy.

Located in the south of the Yangtze River Delta, Shaoxing neighbors Shanghai and Hangzhou in the west and Ningbo in the east.

With a history that dates back more than 4,000 years, Shaoxing combines the ancient and the modern in a city full of life and vigor.

The city has been famous for centuries for its waterways, bridges, wine, calligraphy, and the celebrities it has nurtured.

Today, Shaoxing is one of the most economically prosperous areas on China's east coast, with textiles as its leading industry. Its trade volumes for chemical fabrics, socks, neckties, and textile fabrics are the highest in the country.

Located in Keqiao, the China Textile Market is the nation's largest textile products specialty market and the biggest piece goods distributing center in Asia.

In 2006, trade volume at the China Textile Market reached 50 billion yuan.

With nearly 35,000 advanced loom streamlines, Shaoxing produced one-third of the country's total printed and dyed fabric in 2006.

The same year, Shaoxing's textile output accounted for 4.2 percent of the country's total economic output.

The construction industry is also an economic pillar for Shaoxing, its production value topping that of prefecture-level cities nationwide.

Economy powerhouse

Shaoxing's economy has a strong development momentum, with private economy covering major industries like textiles, machinery, food products, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and electronics. It takes the lead among similar cities in the country in terms of the number of listed companies, while its self-management of exports has maintained an impressive growth rate of over 40 percent for five consecutive years.

Shaoxing has an excellent investment environment. Its convenient transport network ensures that one can get from downtown to any other part of the city within an hour.

Shaoxing is only 30 km away from Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, 120 km from Beilun Port in Ningbo and 230 km from Shanghai.

Shaoxing has created dozens of economic zones focusing on various industries like textiles, printing and dyeing, garments, umbrella manufacture, handicrafts, furniture, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and mechanical and electrical industries.

Shaoxing has achieved balanced development in rural and urban areas.

Rural industrialization began early there, and the level of urbanization is comparatively high on the national scale.

Thirteen development zones, including the Paojiang Industrial Zone, possess excellent supporting infrastructure, preferential investment policies, and efficient investment service systems.

Foreign-funded enterprises have become important growth drivers for Shaoxing's economy.

Shaoxing has established direct trade relationship with more than 170 countries and regions, and more than 1,400 of its enterprises hold export rights.

More than 340 foreign textile companies from 24 countries and regions have established branch offices at Shaoxing.

As the economy develops, conditions in both urban and rural areas of Shaoxing have been changing with each passing day. Shaoxing has been listed among the National Sanitary Cities, the National Model Cities for Environmental Protection and National Garden Cities.

It is gearing up to win the titles of National Civilized City, and Human Settlements and Environment Protection Award City.

(China Daily 09/07/2007 page45)