- Province adds low-altitude economy and commercial space to “415x” industrial map
- Existing clusters are consolidated around energy, machinery and consumer manufacturing strengths
Zhejiang is reshaping its advanced manufacturing strategy, expanding its industrial cluster framework to include new aerospace-related sectors while consolidating several existing pillars.
This move comes as the province sharpens its focus on emerging technologies and core manufacturing strengths.
The provincial Economy and Information Technology Department recently updated the “415x” advanced manufacturing cluster system, adding one new segment and reorganizing four others.
This upgrade is aimed at aligning with national development priorities under the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) and strengthening Zhejiang’s industrial ecosystem.
The “415x” framework is Zhejiang’s long-running manufacturing roadmap, built around four world-class industrial clusters (such as petrochemicals, automobiles and other established heavy industries), a set of leading emerging strategic clusters, and five future-oriented industrial sectors covering frontier technologies such as new energy, digital manufacturing and advanced equipment.
The latest revision expands its forward-looking layer, with a sharper focus on space technology and low-altitude aviation systems.
China’s top policymakers have framed aerospace and satellite internet as emerging strategic sectors with growing importance in national industrial planning during this year’s liang hui, the annual gathering of the country’s top legislators and political advisors
Zhejiang has already built early capabilities across the commercial space value chain, spanning satellite manufacturing, rocket and engine production, launch services and downstream satellite data applications.
Companies including Landspace (蓝剑航天), Space Epoch (箭元科技) and other industry players have established a presence in the province, alongside research platforms such as the Zhejiang Lab (之江实验室) and national or regional aerospace institutes in Hangzhou.
Industrial infrastructure is increasingly clustered around the Hangzhou Bay region, including dedicated aerospace industrial parks in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Jiaxing and Deqing, forming a connected regional ecosystem.
At the same time, the province consolidated four existing clusters to better align with industrial realities.
Smart photovoltaics and new energy equipment were merged into a broader energy and storage cluster. Robotics and digital machine tools were reorganized into an industrial machinery and robotics category.
Smart electrical systems were expanded to include agricultural machinery, while home appliances and furniture were combined into a broader smart living cluster.
Zhejiang’s strength in industrial machinery remains particularly pronounced, with the province accounting for more than a third of China’s economical CNC machine tool output and more than 60 percent of cutting tool production.
In agricultural machinery, especially for mountainous terrain, local manufacturers dominate a significant share of China’s specialized equipment market.
