Centre of creativity
Listing as a City of Crafts and Folk Art is seen as a boost to generating awareness of business opportunities.

There is a Chinese saying: "Above is heaven, below is Hangzhou". If Hangzhou is indeed heaven on earth, it's not only for its beautiful scenery, but also culture and creativity - and the city is becoming known as creative hub.
Hangzhou was included in Unesco's Creative Cities Network as a City of Crafts and Folk Art in April. The decision was made in recognition of its ability to place crafts at the core of its strategy to develop an environment conducive to the creative industry. This is in addition to nurturing traditional techniques, and its continued efforts to improve the industry by using the resources from the public and private sectors.
Unesco defines cultural and creative industries as those that combine the creation, production and commercialisation of content which is intangible and cultural in nature. Such content, either in goods or services, is typically protected by copyright. In China, the term is often broadly applied to include information services, such as e-commerce, digital TV and software companies.
Other segments include animation and games, design and services, modern media, arts and related education, training, leisure and exhibition services.
The listing is seen as a boost to Hangzhou's strategy to become the "cultural and creative industry centre in China" by 2015, by generating awareness of the city and its business opportunities.
According to the Hangzhou Cultural and Creative Industry Management Office, which was set up in 2007, the city is poised to be a cultural and creative hub.
It has a history of more than 5,000 years, plenty of historical and cultural assets, and frequently ranks among the best cities in China for living in, with its beautiful natural environment and scenery.