Visitors check out imported wine at an expo in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, on Nov 13, 2024. [Photo provided to ezhejiang.gov.cn]

By the end of 2024, Zhejiang province's roster of counties, county-level cities, and districts with GDP exceeding 100 billion yuan (about $13.9 billion) had grown to 33, adding four new members in 2024.

Leading the pack were Yuhang district in Hangzhou and Yinzhou and Beilun districts in Ningbo, each surpassing 300 billion yuan in GDP. The rest of the top 10 — Cixi, Binjiang, Shangcheng, Yiwu, Xiaoshan, Xihu, and Keqiao — all crossed the 200-billion-yuan threshold.

Among them, Yiwu stood out with its rapid ascent. After overtaking Keqiao in 2023 to enter the top 10, it surged past Xiaoshan, Xihu, and Gongshu in 2024 to claim seventh place.

Business in the city remains brisk, as evidenced by the record-breaking foot traffic at Yiwu International Trade Market, where daily visitors exceeded 220,000 and foreign buyers averaged 3,900 per day — the highest figures in a decade.

In 2024, Yiwu's total import and export volume soared 18.2 percent to 668.93 billion yuan, outpacing the foreign trade growth of Shenzhen.

For 2025, Zhejiang has set a GDP growth target of around 5.5 percent, focusing on a balanced development between urban and rural regions.