Quzhou Economic Mid-Year Report: Resilience in Motion

In the first half of 2025, Quzhou’s economy demonstrated robust resilience.

Latest data show that the city’s industrial value-added above designated size rose by 4.7 % year-on-year. The six flagship industrial chains delivered an outstanding performance, generating RMB 108.05 billion in output—71.4 % of the total output of all enterprises above designated size. Meanwhile, fixed-asset investment surged 12.1 % year-on-year, ranking third in the province, while foreign-trade imports and exports reached RMB 40.76 billion, advancing steadily and outpacing the provincial average.

Vibrant enterprise activity, accelerated major-project construction, and the unleashed potential of open platforms have together painted a vivid “red mid-year” picture of high-quality development in Quzhou.

Resilience emerges in the six key industrial chains

Zhejiang Zhongfu New Materials Co., Ltd. (“Zhongfu”), located in the Smart Manufacturing New City, reported strong results. On 20 July, Executive Vice General Manager Xiong Bin announced, “In the first half we sustained strong growth momentum, with output exceeding RMB 260 million, up more than 30 % year-on-year; exports accounted for roughly 20 %.”

With market prices for all refrigerant grades hovering around RMB 47,000 per tonne, Zhongfu seized the window of opportunity, maximized capacity utilization and achieved a “red first half”. In January alone, its foreign-trade revenue grew 30 % year-on-year, surpassing the company’s 20 % growth targets for both revenue and exports set at the beginning of the year.

According to the Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the 4.7 % increase in industrial value-added above designated size was driven by monthly promotions to the designated-size list, capacity ramp-ups, and favourable order backlogs at selected enterprises. Notably, Quzhou’s six flagship industrial chains generated RMB 108.05 billion in output—71.4 % of the city’s total for enterprises above designated size, a three-percentage-point increase over 2024.

Leveraging higher refrigerant prices, the new-materials chain grew 10.1 %, contributing 3.2 percentage points to the city’s total industrial-output growth.  

The integrated-circuit chain expanded 28.3 %, contributing 0.9 percentage points.  

The life-health chain rose 11 %, contributing 0.6 percentage points.

By district: In January–June, Kecheng District, Qujiang District, Smart Manufacturing New City and Longyou County all exceeded the citywide average growth rate. In Kecheng, enterprises promoted to designated-size status last year—Zhongming’an and Fanxi Technology—delivered substantial year-on-year output increases. In Qujiang, Zhongxian Optoelectronics and Xunmai Electronics each contributed more than RMB 100 million in output. In June the Smart Manufacturing New City posted a record RMB 16.13 billion in monthly industrial output, supported by higher product prices from Quhua Fluorochemical and Huayou Cobalt New Materials, and by robust orders and expanded capacity at Times Lithium-ion, Penghui Energy, Dongpeng Special Drinks and Bamo Technology. Six firms—including Xiandao Micro-electronics and Xiandao Thin Films—were newly promoted to designated-size status within the month. Longyou County saw output gains from Litong Xingwei, Xinhang Special Materials and Minghui New Materials (all promoted last year); Huadian Thermal Power and Xiangsheng Environmental Protection operated at full capacity.

From January to June, city-wide manufacturing investment reached RMB 19.53 billion, up 8.5 %. Forty-three provincial-level major manufacturing projects absorbed RMB 10.44 billion, representing 54.9 % of their annual plan. Eleven of twelve newly launched projects have broken ground, yielding a 91.7 % start-up rate—the highest in the province.

Investment as the New Engine of Growth

The Municipal Development and Reform Commission reports equally encouraging trends.

In the first half of 2025, Quzhou’s fixed-asset investment maintained steady and rapid growth. From January to June, city-wide fixed-asset investment rose 12.1 % year-on-year—third in the province—marking the 13th consecutive quarter in the top three.

Structural indicators continued to strengthen:  

Construction and installation investment grew 13.6 %, first in the province.  

Infrastructure investment surged 45.1 %, first in the province.  

Project investment advanced 19.7 %, second in the province.  

Transport, energy, water and eco-environmental investment rose 36.9 %, second in the province.

Major project construction accelerated. During the first half, two batches comprising 107 provincial “Thousand Projects, Trillion Investment” projects achieved an 82.2 % investment completion rate, ranking third in the province. Among the first batch of 30 new projects, 27 have started (90 %). Key industrial projects such as Xiandao Sensors, Share-Bio and Purolite New Materials have broken ground.

Resource mobilisation reached new heights. From January to June the city secured RMB 20.3 billion in ultra-long special treasury bonds, central budgetary funds and special-purpose bonds. Completion rates against provincial targets for “Two Heavy” ultra-long special treasury bonds and central budgetary investment ranked first and second respectively in the province, facilitating the launch of 132 projects—including the Hangzhou-Chun’an-Kaihua Expressway and Quzhou No. 4 Middle School—leveraging over RMB 58 billion in investment and stimulating more than RMB 3 billion in consumption.

Steady Foreign-Trade Advancement

Since Quzhou Comprehensive Bonded Zone (CBZ) commenced closed customs operations on 11 June, it handled RMB 106 million in import and export declarations in the first 31 days, posting sterling first-month results as the first CBZ in the mountainous western Zhejiang region.

The “in-zone direct transfer” policy has delivered tangible benefits. Since the first transaction on 4 July, four deals totalling 2,308 tonnes of wood pulp were switched from bonded to non-bonded status within the zone in a single week. The policy eliminates the need for goods to leave and re-enter the zone, removing redundant gate crossings and loading/unloading, thereby cutting logistics time and cost significantly. Shao Benhu, import-export manager of Quzhou Gangjian Supply Chain Management Co., the first beneficiary, noted, “Direct transfer has shortened our processing time by 60 % and is expected to save nearly RMB 1 million in short-haul transport annually.”

From the Canton Fair to the China-Europe Supply Chain Expo, Quzhou organised 296 company participations in 149 international exhibitions during the first half, generating intended deals worth RMB 3.546 billion. In the first five months, 1,252 enterprises recorded actual foreign-trade performance, an increase of 90 over last year. Forty-seven enterprises posted import-export volumes exceeding RMB 100 million, and two exceeded RMB 1 billion. The city has cultivated ten China AEO advanced-certified enterprises, twenty Zhejiang Export Brand enterprises and thirty-one Quzhou Export Brand enterprises. According to the Municipal Bureau of Commerce, Quzhou’s total import-export value for the first half reached RMB 40.76 billion, growing faster than the provincial average.

Mid-course on a challenging uphill climb, Quzhou is now rallying under the banner of “Going all-out for the economy and sprinting the second half”, steadfastly shouldering its responsibility as a key contributor to Zhejiang’s economy. By resolutely implementing the “Industry-driven City, Manufacturing-energised City” strategy, Quzhou is determined to win the decisive battle to conclude the 14th Five-Year Plan and deliver an even greater contribution to Zhejiang’s high-quality development and the demonstration zone for common prosperity.