The Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission hosts a press conference on Nov 25 on developing the province's so-called modern service industry development zones. [Photo/ zjol.com.cn]

On Nov 25, the Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission hosted a press conference on developing the province's so-called modern service industry development zones.

Zhejiang authorities plan to build 100 such zones by 2023 and ensure that 20 of them will be influential and competitive on the global stage by 2025.

The Zhejiang provincial government will prioritize the development of seven high-end service industries, including information technology services, research & development, digital trade, modern logistics, modern finance, digital cultural tourism, and life health services. These industries boast high-profile human capital, high value-added, strong spin-off potential, and low consumption of natural resources.

The development of these service industry zones will be closely integrated with the province's ongoing digitization reform, according to Zhang Shuming, deputy director of the Zhejiang Development and Reform Commission.

The commission will take steps to prompt more and more small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses in the service sector to embrace digital technologies.

During the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) period, Zhejiang had already bred 100 demonstration zones for modern service industrial clusters. By the end of 2020, the demonstration zones had housed over 180,000 enterprises, employed 1.08 million people and earned an annual operating revenue of more than 3 trillion yuan ($469.2 billion) in total.

Seven of the demonstration zones now exceed 100 billion yuan in annual operating revenue. Top performers among them include Yiwu International Trade City, the Ningbo Meishan Bonded Zone Logistics Park, and the China Internet Economy Industry Zone in the Hangzhou High-Tech Zone.