Since the reform and opening up, Zhejiang has witnessed rapid economic development. Deepening institutional reform has unleashed economic potential. The economic aggregate of Zhejiang exceeded 1 trillion yuan in 2004, and went on to surpass 2 trillion yuan, 3 trillion yuan, 4 trillion yuan, 5 trillion yuan and 6 trillion yuan in 2008, 2011, 2014, 2017 and 2019 (6.46 trillion yuan in 2020) respectively. Its per capita GDP exceeded 10,000 US dollars in 2012. In 2020, the per capita disposable income for the whole province reached 52,400 yuan, up by 5.0% from the previous year. The per capita disposable incomes of urban and rural residents have been the highest among all the provinces and autonomous regions in China for 20 and 36 consecutive years respectively while with the urban-rural income gap remains the smallest in China.

Hangzhou Binjiang campus of Alibaba, the world's largest e-commerce company

Zhejiang has a highly developed market economy, and is committed to improving its business environment to unleash market vitality. At the end of 2020, there were 8.032 million registered market entities in Zhejiang, among which 2.82 were enterprises. Zhejiang is home to 518 companies listed in domestic stock markets, the second highest in number in China. Many Fortune Global 500 companies are based in Zhejiang, such as Alibaba, Geely, Wuchan Zhongda Group, Hailiang Group, and Tsingshan Holding Group. The biggest strength of Zhejiang's economy lies in its private businesses, a unique signature of Zhejiang. In 2020, there were 2.6 million private businesses in Zhejiang, accounting for 92.3% of all the registered enterprises in the province. The private businesses have contributed over 60% of Zhejiang's GDP, more than 70% of tax revenue, about 80% of exports and nearly 90% of jobs. In the latest list of China's top 500 private enterprises, 96 are in Zhejiang, the highest number among all the provinces, municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the central government, and autonomous regions in the country for 22 consecutive years.

China (Zhejiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone