What’s the story
Hangzhou, a city in China, is fast becoming a major AI hub.
The city, home to tech giants such as Alibaba and DeepSeek, is luring entrepreneurs and tech talent with government support.
The AI fever is driving innovation in the region, with DeepSeek’s affordable AI system making waves in the tech world.
Backyard start-up pitches in Hangzhou
Recently, Liangzhu, a quiet suburb of Hangzhou, turned into a Silicon Valley-like setting.
Dozens of people gathered around a backyard stage to share their tech start-up ideas.
The event was hosted by Felix Tao, an ex-Facebook and Alibaba employee. He said, “People come here to explore their own possibilities,” highlighting the city’s role as an innovation hotspot.
Decade of investment pays off
As China competes with the US for tech supremacy, Hangzhou has emerged as the epicenter of China’s AI frenzy.
A decade ago, local governments begun offering subsidies and tax breaks to new companies in Hangzhou.
This policy has helped incubate hundreds of start-ups, making the city a go-to destination for programmers from Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen on weekends.
Entrepreneurial incubator
‘Villagers’ in coding camps
Tao’s backyard has become a meeting point for coders who have made Liangzhu their home.
Most of them are in their 20s and 30s and refer to themselves as “villagers.” They spend their days coding in coffee shops and nights gaming together, all with the hope of using AI to start their own companies.
This shows how Hangzhou is nurturing a new generation of tech entrepreneurs.
DeepSeek and Alibaba are among best performers
Hangzhou is home to several tech giants, including Alibaba, DeepSeek, NetEase, and Hikvision.
In January, DeepSeek shocked the tech world by unveiling an AI system it had developed at a fraction of the cost spent by Silicon Valley companies.
Since then, systems developed by DeepSeek and Alibaba have been among the best-performing open-source AI models globally.
Graduates from Zhejiang University are hot commodity
Graduates from Hangzhou’s Zhejiang University, where DeepSeek’s founder studied, have become highly sought-after workers at Chinese tech companies.
The poaching of a core member of DeepSeek’s team by electronics company Xiaomi drew significant media attention in China.
Meanwhile, in Liangzhu, many engineers are biding their time until they can launch their own start-ups after serving non-compete agreements with larger firms like ByteDance.