Xiaoshan, the most economically developed administrative district of Hangzhou, aims to become the expo center of Zhejiang province by boosting its convention and leisure tourism sectors.

At the south gate of Hangzhou on the bank of the Qiantang River, the 1,420-sq-km district is among the most developed areas of the Yangtze River Delta. It is home to 1.17 million people.

Founded in the second century BC, it was classified as a city in 1988 and in 2001 Xiaoshan was named a new administrative district in the capital Hangzhou.

The district registered annual GDP growth of 20 percent since 2002 and ranked first in revenue in Zhejiang for six consecutive years. In 2007 the GDP of Xiaoshan reached 84.29 billion yuan, with a per capita GDP of 63,985 yuan. Its rural per capita income was 11,700 yuan, far exceeding the provincial average.

Total savings of its residents reached 40.8 billion yuan last year.

Transportation hub

Xiaoshan has long been an important transportation and logistics hub due to its location just 180 km from Shanghai, the nation's business center, and 150 km from Ningbo, one of the busiest ports in China.

Xiaoshan is at the confluence of the Qiantang, Puyang and Fuchun rivers and connected with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. A large volume of goods pass through the district, transported over a combined network of rivers, canal and sea.

Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport is the leading air transport hub in Zhejiang province, accommodating 9.92 million passengers annually that arrive over air routes connected to 86 cities at home and abroad.

Construction on a second phase of the Xiaoshan airport is now underway.

Leisure and life

With such robust economic growth, Xiaoshan is striving to build itself into a place with a superb life.

It hosted the World Leisure Expo Hangzhou 2006, which greatly changed the lifestyle of its people through development of more leisure venues like teahouses, coffee shops, bars and gyms.

Xiaoshan also has abundant tourism resources and historic cultural relics. It is home to the famous Qiantang River tidal bore that attracts thousands of visitors to watch the spectacular event each year.

The district has also ecological tourism sites such as the Hangzhou Ecology Park, Yunshi Vocation Village and a provincial-level agricultural hi-tech district, all of which allow more urban residents to enjoy the countryside.

Expo center

Xiaoshan is also famed for its comprehensive and modern convention facilities. It has several high-class business hotels, each with large-scale convention and meeting rooms. There are five convention sites in Xiaoshan, each covering over 1,000 sq m, and 10 with an area between 500-800 sq m.

It is also home to the Hangzhou Amusement Park, the First World Hotel, the First World Convention Center and the Xiaoshan Theatre.

The Hangzhou World Expo Center, also located in Xiaoshan, is expected to be completed by the first half of 2010. It will be used as the main venue of the second World Leisure Expo Hangzhou, to be held in 2011.

Most of Xiaoshan's convention facilities are equipped with simultaneous translation and central digital AV conference systems, wireless Internet and movable stages to cater to different functions such as business meetings, press conferences, symposiums, product shows and banquets.

In the first half of this year alone, over 100 provincial-level, national-level and international conferences, including the China International Fiber Conference and China International Taxation Symposium, were held in Xiaoshan. Meetings sponsored by institutions outside Zhejiang account for 80 percent of convention revenue, with the portion even higher for some hotels. The district is also home to numerous professional convention and event management operations that can provide detailed expo and venue site services. Secretaries, translators and tour guides are available to aid in the success of events.

As the host of events such as the World Leisure Expo Hangzhou 2006 and the Luneng Cup World Table Tennis Championship, Xiaoshan is now noted for its capacity to host expos and large events. More multinational companies are choosing Xiaoshan at the site for their meetings, including PetroChina, China Unicom, Geely Automobile, BMW and Mercedes Benz.

Hangzhou China Travel Service: 0086-0571-88398499; 0086-13588476467 (24h)