Shaoxing, a millennium-old city, is now standing under the spotlight of a new era.
From integration into metropolitan clusters to deeper participation in the Yangtze River Delta, from the metaphor of a “golden shoulder pole carrying a trillion-yuan city” to becoming an integral member of the Hangzhou–Shaoxing–Ningbo corridor, one headline after another has trended online. Together, they trace the city’s steady and confident development over the past year.
Shaoxing’s overall economic strength has risen to 28th nationwide; the total number of A-share listed companies has reached 80, placing it alongside major cities such as Changsha, Hefei, and Wuhan; and its gross domestic product is expected to surpass RMB 900 billion this year.
Behind these figures lies a proactive leap forward. Shaoxing is seizing the opportunities of Yangtze River Delta integration and driving a historic upgrade in its overall urban capacity.
An Industrial Leap: From “Avoiding the Siphon Effect” to “Mutual Empowerment”
Situated on the southern wing of the Yangtze River Delta, between two trillion-yuan cities—Hangzhou and Ningbo—Shaoxing once faced a defining question of the era: how to avoid being drained by stronger neighbors while generating its own spillover effects.
The answer has gradually emerged through concrete action.
In Yuecheng District, the super factory of ChipMOS Integrated Manufacturing operates around the clock. Chips produced here power new energy vehicles and smart appliances thousands of kilometers away. More than an industry benchmark, the company serves as a strategic anchor for Shaoxing’s National Integrated Circuit Industry Innovation Center. With it as the chain leader, Shaoxing’s integrated circuit “10,000-mu, 100-billion-yuan” industrial platform has exceeded RMB 85 billion in output value and is spearheading the bid to establish a national advanced manufacturing cluster for analog chips and power devices in the Hangzhou Bay area.
Turning to Keqiao District, China Textile City—the world’s largest textile trading hub—records annual transactions exceeding RMB 400 billion, accounting for one quarter of the global market. Today, it is working in coordination with Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Jiaxing to advance the Hangzhou Bay modern textile and apparel cluster from a national-level cluster toward a world-class advanced manufacturing cluster, linking the entire industrial chain from “a drop of oil” to “a piece of clothing.”
Yuecheng’s “chips” and Keqiao’s “fabrics” may appear unrelated, yet together they weave Shaoxing’s new role in the regional landscape: not an isolated island, but a vital connector.
Becoming a Regional Connector
Research by Yang Hongxiang, professor at the Party School of the Shaoxing Municipal Committee, provides empirical evidence for this “connector effect.” Analyzing cross-city investment data from over 200,000 enterprises, she identified a key turning point around 2018. “With the official release of the Shaoxing Action Plan for Hangzhou–Shaoxing–Ningbo Integration in 2018, Shaoxing’s manufacturing sector began to deeply integrate with producer services in the Hangzhou Bay area, forming a complementary development pattern,” she noted.
After Zhejiang Province launched the Five-Year Action Plan for the ‘Dual-City Initiative’ of Hangzhou and Ningbo in 2021, Shaoxing continued to deepen its integration with Hangzhou, align with Ningbo, and connect with Shanghai—fully embedding itself into the “dual-city initiative” and taking on the role of the development “golden shoulder pole.”
Internally, the city has focused on strengthening its fundamentals and upgrading its industrial structure. By accelerating the modernization of its industrial system, Shaoxing is advancing the renewal of traditional industries, expanding emerging industries, and strategically planning future industries. This year, the total output value of above-scale industry is expected to exceed RMB 1 trillion. The city has also promoted deep integration between scientific and industrial innovation, achieving a breakthrough by establishing its first national key laboratory and becoming Zhejiang’s first pilot city for integrated development across education, science, and talent.
Externally, Shaoxing is opening further to the bay, the sea, and Shanghai. The Shaoxing area of the Hangzhou–Shaoxing Airport Economic Demonstration Zone has gained momentum; the Binhai New Area has advanced into the first tier of provincial-level new zones; the Shanghai–Shaoxing Industrial Innovation Cooperation Zone and the Yiwu–Ningbo–Zhoushan–Shengzhou–Xinchang Portside Economic Zone have been selected as provincial platforms. Major open innovation platforms, including the third phase of Zhuji’s “Hangzhou Port” and the Shaoxing–Hangzhou Digital Trade Port, have been completed and put into operation, accelerating the dissolution of regional barriers.
Opening Up and Accelerating Integration
Notably, the Shaoxing–Hangzhou Digital Trade Port, which officially opened on October 25, has leveraged Hangzhou’s digital economy resources to attract more than 40 enterprises and platforms, aiming to become one of the most influential cross-border e-commerce demonstration parks in the Yangtze River Delta.
From inter-city coordination to district-level cooperation, from industrial collaboration to innovation synergy—what was once a dilemma of “seeking spillover while fearing siphoning” has been transformed. Through leveraging the dual-city dynamic and pursuing differentiated development, Shaoxing has become fertile ground for opportunity on all sides.
Ming Wenbiao, Executive Director of the New Economy Development Research Center at the Zhejiang–Tsinghua Yangtze River Delta Research Institute, observed that Shaoxing’s GDP growth rate from 2023 to 2025 has exceeded the provincial average by one percentage point. This performance is closely linked to the city’s vigorous development of new productive forces such as semiconductors, new energy vehicles, and medical devices. From January to October this year, the added value of strategic emerging industries accounted for 41.4% of the added value of above-scale industry. As the industrial structure continues to upgrade, development quality steadily improves, and the value of the “golden shoulder pole” grows ever stronger.
Urban Advancement: From “Nothing Grows Under Big Trees” to “Good Shade Beneath Big Trees”
On the morning of September 13, Shaoxing Institute of Technology held its inaugural ceremony, marking the addition of a new undergraduate institution belonging to the people of Shaoxing.
At the same time, preparations for renaming Shaoxing University of Arts and Sciences to Shaoxing University entered their final stage. The accelerating formation of a modern higher-education cluster in this ancient city vividly reflects its rising urban capacity.
For a long time, Shaoxing struggled with a “locational dilemma,” often described as “nothing grows under big trees.”
The turning point came through proactive integration into the Yangtze River Delta and the overlapping strategic opportunities of Hangzhou–Shaoxing–Ningbo integration. On August 14, 2025, at the fourth joint conference of the Hangzhou–Ningbo Dual-City Initiative, Shaoxing participated as a full member for the first time. This marked a shift from “dual-city interaction” to “three-city linkage,” a new paradigm of Chinese urbanization characterized by strong core cities, empowered metropolitan circles, and coordinated urban clusters.
A New Role in Regional Coordination
Behind this milestone lies years of top-level planning. In 2020, Shaoxing issued the implementation plan for the Hangzhou–Shaoxing–Ningbo Integration Action Plan. In 2024, it released the Shaoxing Plan for Integration with Hangzhou, closely aligning with the Ningbo Metropolitan Area Development Plan. In March 2025, Ningbo and Shaoxing signed a strategic cooperation agreement, followed by a deepened same-city development cooperation agreement between Hangzhou and Shaoxing at this year’s joint conference. The policy roadmap has been clear, and the pace of integration steady and confident.
This transformation is also rooted in geography and strategy. Historically, Hangzhou’s influence extended to Zhuji, while Ningbo’s reached Shangyu and Shengzhou, leaving a gap between the two. Shaoxing sits precisely in the middle—like the handle of a dumbbell—where deep integration can bridge the divide and enable smoother factor flows. As a result, the consensus has emerged that “to play the dual-city initiative well, Shaoxing is essential,” opening a new chapter of being genuinely “needed.”
These opportunities are translating into tangible change.
Tangible Benefits and Improved Connectivity
Zhejiang Provincial People’s Hospital has established a Shaoxing campus in Yuecheng; Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital has entered Shangyu; the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University has located in Keqiao; and Zhejiang Cancer Hospital has settled in Binhai. The number of top-tier (Grade III-A) hospitals in the city has increased to eight.
High-quality educational resources have also been introduced, including the Shaoxing campus of Zhejiang Financial College and Hangzhou Dianzi University. The total number of higher-education institutions in Shaoxing has reached 13. Since its opening in September 2024, Zhejiang Financial College’s Shaoxing campus has already enrolled 3,000 students.
Through the full implementation of the Dual-City Initiative’s livelihood and business facilitation checklist, 1,038 government services are now available across cities. Citizen cards are fully interoperable between Shaoxing, Hangzhou, and Ningbo. Particularly noteworthy is the deepening cooperation in inter-regional water resource allocation between Ningbo and Shaoxing. The steady flow from Tangpu and Qincun reservoirs reflects the shared commitment to high-quality integrated development.
Driven by comprehensive transportation infrastructure development, Shaoxing’s “336” transportation circle—30 minutes within the city, 30 minutes to Hangzhou and Ningbo, and 60 minutes to Shanghai—is rapidly taking shape, turning the vision of “same-city living” into reality.
Mobility, Vitality, and Urban Appeal
Data provides compelling evidence. During evening peak hours on Metro Line 1, one in four passengers is a Hangzhou commuter. Shaoxing North Railway Station operates more than 70 daily high-speed trains to Hangzhou, and Hangzhou–Shaoxing passenger flows account for over 20% of total traffic between Hangzhou and the Yangtze River Delta. Tian Haiyan, a Party School faculty member who relocated to Shaoxing in 2019 while her husband works in Hangzhou, travels weekly between the two cities. “It’s just one line—it truly feels like living in the same city,” she said.
Transportation has not only shortened distances but also concentrated vitality, enabling efficient flows of people, goods, capital, information, and technology. From “nothing grows under big trees” to “good shade beneath big trees,” Shaoxing is transforming its locational advantages into development momentum and finding its place within the towering forest of the Yangtze River Delta.
Cultural Revitalization: From a “Heavy, Damp Cotton Coat” to a “New Engine of Growth”
President Xi Jinping has noted that places with strong cultural development can also lead economically. The Hangzhou Bay area exemplifies this truth. The Eastern Zhejiang Canal connects Hangzhou, Shaoxing, and Ningbo, linking their economic and cultural lifelines. Historically, the three cities have shared close geographic, social, and cultural ties.
Through increasing personnel exchanges and cultural interaction, Shaoxing’s humanistic DNA has been continuously activated, giving rise to a distinctive model of “cultural economics.”
With the canal as its axis, Shaoxing has aligned its spatial planning along the waterway with the Hangzhou–Shaoxing–Ningbo integration strategy. Together with neighboring cities, it initiated the establishment of the Grand Canal National Cultural Park (Zhejiang Section) collaborative framework, advancing the construction of the national cultural park and planning a “river–city symbiosis” mega project with a total investment of RMB 39 billion, further enhancing the cultural brand of the millennium-old canal.
Culture Empowering Industry and the City
Building on 20 years of implementing the “Eight Cultural Projects,” Shaoxing has worked with Hangzhou and Ningbo to jointly preserve and share Song Dynasty culture, Poetry Road culture, Wang Yangming philosophy, calligraphy heritage, and Yue Opera. Together, they are creating a world-class cultural and tourism corridor of Jiangnan ancient towns and conducting multi-level international cultural tourism promotion to tell the stories of the Dual-City Initiative and the Hangzhou–Shaoxing–Ningbo region.
Strengthening industry through culture, enriching the city through culture, and cultivating people through culture—these goals converge in the protection and revitalization of the ancient city. As the first prefecture-level city in Zhejiang authorized to conduct archaeological excavations, Shaoxing confirmed the presence of Yue State architecture within the ancient city during the Jizhong site excavation, a finding selected as a major project under “Archaeology China” in 2024. Ongoing excavations at Tashan and Changfang sites have traced human habitation in the ancient city back 6,000 years, extending Shaoxing’s cultural timeline and underscoring its historical significance in the region.
Innovation Rooted in Tradition
Upholding integrity while fostering innovation, Shaoxing has boldly explored new approaches to protecting and utilizing its historical and cultural resources. Adhering to a dual strategy of “cultural industrialization” and “industrial culturalization,” the city has opened and operated landmark cultural tourism projects such as the former residence of Lu You and the second phase of the Lu Xun Native Place. On November 1, Shaoxing implemented China’s first local regulation dedicated to the protection and utilization of famous cultural figures’ heritage—the Shaoxing Regulation on the Protection and Utilization of Celebrity Cultural Resources—promoting a shift from static preservation to dynamic inheritance and deepening the integration of culture, commerce, and tourism.
“The scenic area cleverly recreates Song Dynasty aesthetics and Lu You’s life scenes, incorporating many leisure formats and interactive elements. It feels far more immersive than simply viewing exhibitions,” said Mr. Tu, a visitor from Hangzhou, praising the experience. “Shaoxing’s approach to culture is becoming increasingly thoughtful.”
An ancient city must not only remain alive but also thrive. The “rail-based metropolitan circle” continuously channels visitors into Shaoxing. From January to October 2025, the city received nearly 80 million tourists, including over 40 million overnight visitors, most from Yangtze River Delta cities.
A City Where Culture Becomes Momentum
“Guided by culture, Shaoxing aims to build an ideal city for innovation and entrepreneurship, a top choice for young people returning to the countryside, and a cultural benchmark city defined by Eastern aesthetics,” said an official from the Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism. Shaoxing has ranked first for three consecutive years on the “Top 57 Cities for Living Comfort,” with leading scores in livability, mobility, and income levels.
Liu Ting, former Deputy Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, commented that Shaoxing is striving to build a modern city best suited for innovation and living, transforming its “quality of life” into a “core advantage for attracting and retaining talent.”
This year, a survey of 40 non-Zhejiang high-level professionals working in Shaoxing showed that the most valued factor behind the city’s appeal was its “deep cultural heritage and high-quality humanistic environment suitable for children’s growth.” This reflects both the achievements of enriching the city through culture and the expectations placed on cultural cultivation.
With profound cultural heritage, dynamic industrial momentum, and elegant natural landscapes, Shaoxing has formed a powerful magnet for population and talent. Here, culture is no longer a heavy, damp “cotton coat,” but a vibrant new engine driving the integrated development of industry, city, and culture—propelling this deeply rooted and resilient city steadily forward amid the tides of the times.
千年古城绍兴，正站在时代的镁光灯下。
从都市圈到长三角，从“金扁担挑起万亿之城”到“新绍兴入席杭绍甬”，一个个话题冲上热搜，映照出这座城市一年来步履铿锵的发展轨迹：
城市综合经济实力跃居全国第28位；A股上市公司总数已达80家，与长沙、合肥、武汉等重镇齐头并进；今年地区生产总值有望突破9000亿元大关……
数字的背后，是一场主动的“撑杆跳”——绍兴正全力抢抓长三角一体化机遇，推动城市能级实现历史性跨越。
产业之跃：从“左右虹吸”到“左右逢源”
屹立于长三角金南翼、杭甬两大万亿级城市之间，绍兴曾面临一个时代之问：如何避免“虹吸”，赢得“辐射”？
答案，在实干中逐渐清晰。
走进越城区，芯联集成的超级工厂昼夜不息。这里“流淌”出的芯片，驱动着千里之外的新能源汽车与智能家电。它不仅是行业标杆企业，更是绍兴国家集成电路产业创新中心的战略支点。以它为链主，绍兴集成电路“万亩千亿”平台产值突破850亿元，牵头争创环杭州湾模拟芯片和功率器件国家先进制造集群。
转向柯桥区，全球最大的纺织品集散中心——中国轻纺城，每年交易额超4000亿元，占全球市场份额的四分之一。如今，它正联动杭州、宁波、嘉兴，推动环杭州湾现代纺织服装集群从国家级向世界先进制造业集群晋级，贯通从“一滴油”到“一件衣”的全产业链。
越城的“芯”、柯桥的“布”，看似不相干，却共同编织出绍兴在区域棋局中的新角色：不做孤岛，做纽带。
绍兴市委党校教授杨宏翔的研究，为这种“纽带效应”提供了实证。她梳理20余万家企业跨市投资数据，发现关键转折发生在2018年前后，“随着2018年《杭绍甬一体化发展绍兴行动计划》正式出台，绍兴的制造业与杭州湾的生产性服务业开始深度融合，形成互补格局。”
2021年，浙江启动《唱好杭州、宁波“双城记”五年行动计划》后，绍兴持续深化融杭联甬接沪，全方位融入杭甬“双城记”、当好发展“金扁担”。
对内，苦练内功，产业向新：聚焦现代化产业体系建设，全面推进传统产业焕新升级、新兴产业发展壮大、未来产业科学布局，今年规上工业总产值将突破1万亿元大关；扎实推动科技创新与产业创新深度融合，实现全国重点实验室“零”的突破，成为浙江首个教科人“三位一体”高质量发展试验区。
对外，融湾向海、接沪攀高：杭绍临空经济示范区绍兴片区全面起势；滨海新区向海而进，跻身省级新区“第一方阵”；沪绍产业创新合作区、义甬舟嵊新临港经济区入选省级平台；诸暨“杭州港”三期、绍兴融杭数字贸易港等开放创新平台建成投用，地域隔阂加快消融。
其中，10月25日刚开园的绍兴融杭数字贸易港，借力杭州数字经济产业资源，目前已成功招引40余家企业和平台，全力打造长三角最具影响力的跨境电商示范园区。
从市域联动到区县牵手，从产业合作到创新协同……曾经面临“既想被辐射，又怕被虹吸”窘境，如今借力双城、错位发展，绍兴已成为左右逢源的发展热土。
浙江清华长三角研究院新经济发展研究中心执行主任明文彪分析认为，2023年至2025年绍兴GDP增速高于全省1个百分点，这与近年来绍兴大力发展半导体、新能源汽车、医疗器械等新质生产力密不可分。今年1—10月，我市战略性新兴产业增加值占规上工业增加值比重达到41.4%。产业结构向新向优，发展质量持续优化，“金扁担”含金量不断提高。
城市之进：从“大树底下难长草”到“大树底下好乘凉”
9月13日上午，绍兴理工学院举行干部教师大会暨揭牌仪式，绍兴人民再添一所属于自己的本科高校。
同时，绍兴文理学院更名为绍兴大学工作也进入最后冲刺，千年古城的现代学府集群加速成形，正是城市能级不断进位的生动注脚。
绍兴曾长期陷入“大树底下难长草”的“方位之困”。
转机，在主动融入和服务长三角一体化发展、杭绍甬一体化叠加战略机遇中到来。2025年8月14日，在唱好杭甬“双城记”第四次联席会议上，绍兴首次以正式成员身份参会。这标志着区域协同从“双城互动”迈向“三市联动”，被称为中国城市化“强城筑基、建圈赋能、组群突围”的“新范式”。
“入席”背后，是持续数年的顶层设计推进——2020年出台《杭绍甬一体化发展绍兴行动计划》实施方案；2024年制定发布《绍兴市融杭发展规划》，紧密对接《宁波都市圈发展规划》；2025年3月甬绍两市签订战略合作协议，今年的联席会上杭绍两地又签署深化同城发展战略合作协议，政策路径清晰，跨越步伐矫健。
更有着深刻的地理与战略逻辑。杭甬合作长期存在“隔离带”——杭州辐射至诸暨，宁波辐射至上虞、嵊州，两地缺乏重叠。绍兴恰是中间的“哑铃杆”，其深度融合能有效弥合间隙、畅通要素流动。由此，“唱好‘双城记’，绍兴很重要”成为共识，“被需要”的机遇就此打开。
机遇，正转化为可感可知的变化。
浙江省人民医院绍兴医院落户越城，邵逸夫医院进驻上虞，浙二医院落地柯桥，浙江省肿瘤医院落子滨海，全市三级甲等医院数量增至8家；成功引入浙江金融职业学院绍兴校区、杭州电子科技大学绍兴校区等优质教育资源，在绍高校数量达到13所，其中浙江金融职业学院绍兴校区2024年9月启用以来，已迎来3000名在校生。
全面落实“双城记”惠民利企事项清单，1038个政务事项实现异地通办，绍兴与杭州、宁波全面实现市民卡“一卡通”……值得一提的是，甬绍域外引配水合作持续深化，汤浦水库、钦寸水库的汩汩清泉映射出城市群携手共进、资源共享的高质量一体化发展初心。
借助立体综合交通建设大会战，我市“336”交通圈（市域30分钟、杭甬30分钟、上海60分钟）加速成形，让“同城化”从梦想照进现实。
一组数据可以印证：地铁1号线晚高峰期间，每四位乘客就有一位是杭州通勤者；高铁绍兴北站每日超70趟列车发往杭州，“杭绍交互”占杭州与长三角人流总量的20%以上。2019年落户绍兴的市委党校教师田海燕，丈夫在杭州工作。每周往返两地的她说，“一条线，完全就是同城的感觉。”
交通拉近了距离，更聚拢了人气与活力，促进了人流、物流、资金流、信息流、技术流的高效流动与深度融合。从“大树底下难长草”到“大树底下好乘凉”，绍兴正将区位优势转化为发展胜势，在长三角的参天林海中，找到自己的方位。
人文之兴：从“厚重的湿棉祅”到“发展的新引擎”
习近平总书记指出，文化很发达的地方，经济照样走在前面。这一点，杭州湾就是典型，一条浙东运河，串联起杭绍甬三地的经济与文化血脉。三地自古地缘相近、人缘相亲、文缘相通。
而在三地的人员往来、文化交流中，绍兴的人文基因不断被激发和唤醒，演绎出独具特色的“人文经济学”。
以运河为轴，绍兴将沿线空间布局与杭绍甬一体化战略紧密结合，与周边城市共同发起成立大运河国家文化公园（浙江段）建设共同体，推进国家文化公园建设，谋划实施总投资390亿元的“河城共生”超级工程，让千年运河的文化名片愈发鲜亮。
以文化建设“八项工程”实施20年为新起点，绍兴与杭甬共建共享宋韵文化、诗路文化、阳明文化、书法文化、越剧文化等瑰宝，合力打造江南古镇世界级文化旅游廊道，开展多层次国际化文旅宣传推广活动，持续讲好“双城记”故事、杭绍甬故事。
以文强产，以文润城，以文化人。赋能文化发展新活态，古城保护传承利用是核心。作为全省首个拥有考古发掘资质单位的地级市，绍兴在稽中遗址的发掘中，首次在绍兴古城内确认了越国建筑的存在，考古成果入选2024年“考古中国”重大项目。今年，正在推进中的塔山和畅坊遗址考古，将绍兴古城内古人类居住史追溯至6000年前，既延伸了绍兴文脉的时间轴线，更彰显了这座文化名城在区域中的历史地位。
守正创新，化故为新。在历史人文资源的保护传承上，绍兴正大胆探索、创新突破。坚持“文化产业化”与“产业文化化”双轮驱动，开放运营陆游故里、鲁迅故里二期等标杆文旅项目；于11月1日起正式实施国内首部名人文化资源保护利用地方法规《绍兴市名人文化资源保护利用条例》，推动名人文化从“静态保护”走向“动态传承”，深化“文商旅促融合”，打造人文经济学的绍兴实践样本。
“景区围绕宋韵文化再现和陆游生活场景还原，巧妙植入了很多休闲业态和互动环节，这比单纯参观陈列更有代入感。”慕名到访陆游故里的杭州游客屠先生连连夸赞，“绍兴人做文化越来越走心了！”
古城要“活”，更要“火”。“轨道上的都市圈”将游客源源不断导入绍兴。2025年1—10月，绍兴接待全域旅游游客近8000万人次，其中过夜游客超4000万人次，大多来自长三角城市。
“以文为魂，打造创新创业的理想之城、青年入乡的首选之城，建设具有东方美学标识度的文化典范之城。”市文广旅游局相关负责人表示，绍兴已连续三年荣登“57城生活舒适榜”榜首，安居指数、出行便捷度、收入水平均位居前列。
浙江省发改委原副主任刘亭评价道，绍兴正着力打造一座最适合创新、最适宜生活的现代品质之城，把“宜居宜业的生活品质”转化为“留才聚才的核心优势”。
今年，一项针对40位在绍工作的非浙籍高层次人才的问卷调查显示，在“绍兴引力”选项中，他们最看重的是“文化底蕴深厚，优质人文环境适合孩子成长”。这既是“以文润城”的成效，也是“以文化人”的期许。
深厚的文化底蕴，澎湃的产业动能，清丽的山水自然，构成了强大的人口引力与人才磁场。在这里，文化不再是厚重的“湿棉袄”，而是驱动产城人文融合发展的活力“新引擎”，助力这座底蕴深厚、承载力强的城市在时代浪潮中步履不停，行稳致远。
