The Wuhan Economic & Technological Development Zone (Hannan) is located in the southwest of Wuhan city, capital of central China's Hubei province. It dates back to May 1991, when construction of the China-France joint venture project Dongfeng Peugeot Citroen Automobile began. In April 1993, it was approved by the State Council as a national economic and technological development zone.
In December 2013, the Wuhan municipal government made a decision to put Hannan district under the jurisdiction of the development zone, thus expanding its total area to 487.9 square kilometers and bringing seven sub-districts and 457,000 residents (among whom 277,000 were permanent residents) under its umbrella.
The WEDZ has established itself as a world-class automobile industrial cluster. It boasts eight complete vehicle companies and 13 production plants, and is seeking new breakthroughs on an industrial scale in such areas as industry supply chains, technological innovation, the automobile service industry, and more fields. It also strives to build a demonstration area for the 5G internet of vehicles, and a demonstration area for intelligent connected vehicle applications.
As a 100 billion yuan-level new energy industrial cluster focused on the development of lithium power batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, the WEDZ established the Wuhan Hydrogen Energy Industry Alliance to boost development of the energy recycling industry and energy service industry.
On top of that, the WEDZ hosts a 50 billion yuan-level new materials industrial cluster based on existing industries, and has cultivated and developed new materials industry supply chains, built new materials industrial parks, and introduced a number of key enterprises in the fields of advanced structural materials, new functional materials, and cutting-edge new materials.
