Since the implementation of its reform and opening-up strategy in 1979, Suzhou has recorded a number of key achievements, some made by capitalizing on major events such as China's access to the World Trade Organization, or WTO. Its adherence to opening up and innovation has paved the way for remarkable achievements in its economy and social development. In 2020, the city's GDP topped 2 trillion yuan ($309.8 billion), ranking it sixth among Chinese cities. The actual use of foreign capital was $5.54 billion, a year-on-year increase of 20 percent, accounting for 19.5 percent of the province's total and increasing by 1.8 percent of the previous year's gain. The number of newly established foreign-invested projects totaled 1,256 last year – with registered foreign capital of $18.91 billion – up by 26.4 percent and 66.8 percent, respectively.
I. Sound base for cooperation
The scale of international cooperation keeps increasing
By the end of 2020, the city's accumulative amount of actual use of foreign capital had exceeded $137 billion and the value of imports and exports totaled $31.91 billion. The container throughput of Suzhou port reached 6.28 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), making it the world's largest inland port. Suzhou is now home to more than 17,000 foreign-invested enterprises. There are also 151 provincial-level regional headquarters and functional institutions for foreign capital, accounting for more than a half of Jiangsu province, with more than 400 projects funded by 156 Fortune 500 companies. It also has 29 functional institutions with research and development functions for provincial-level multinational corporations and 136 overseas R&D centers. Moreover, to date Suzhou has established sister-city relationship with 57 cities around the world.
The cooperation fields keep expanding
Suzhou has carried out cooperation with multinational corporations in various fields – in line with the principals of complementing each other's advantages and seeking common ground while reserving differences. In terms of the manufacturing industry, Suzhou has become an investment destination for foreign capital in the fields of machine and equipment manufacturing, electronics information, automobiles and railway transportation equipment, medicine and medical devices and fine chemicals. In terms of the service industry, a foreign-funded service structure has been formed with a highly developed logistics and trade industry. A group of multinational corporations have invested in the city in cross-border e-commerce, service outsourcing and other new modes in the service industry. The investment of foreign capital in the fields of medical care, eldercare, tourism and entertainment also keeps increasing.
Cooperation benefits keep emerging
In 2020, foreign-funded enterprises accounted for 35.8 percent of the city's industrial enterprises above a designated size – those with annual sales of 20 million yuan or more – contributing 57.7 percent to total operating revenue, 55.6 percent to total taxed profits, and 57.5 percent to net profits. In 2021, foreign-funded enterprises played an important role in the recovering economy despite the repeated outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. From January to July, the city's actual use of foreign capital totaled 6.32 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 35.2 percent.
II. Enormous advantages for cooperation
Favorable location and transportation
Suzhou is located in the core area of the Yangtze River Delta, surrounded by five international airports – for Hongqiao, Pudong, Southern Jiangsu, Lukou and Xiaoshan – with a three-dimensional transport network of expressways and high-speed railways radiating out in all directions. Suzhou port, an important node for the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, is a national first-class port open to the outside world, with a cargo throughput ranking fourth in the world. International railway freight trains starting from Suzhou – including the Suzhou-Manchuria-Europe and the Suzhou-Xinjiang-Asia services - have become important part of the international transport corridor along the Silk Road Economic Belt.
Profound culture, history
The ancient city of Suzhou was founded in 514 BC. Though more than 2,500 years has passed, it retains its traditional waterways connecting to streets and land routes, forming a special transportation layout. The city is the birthplace of Wu culture, a culture with certain regional characteristics that relies on the geographical advantage of being at the south of the Yangtze River. It is home to China's first and unique national history and culture city conservation area and has been named a "World Heritage Model City". Its nine gardens and the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal have been listed as World Cultural Heritage Sites and six projects – including Kunqu Opera and Song Brocade – been included on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
Solid industrial base
Suzhou is a renowned industrial city in China, with total industrial output value above a designed size exceeding 3 trillion yuan for eight consecutive years. A number of industrial clusters have been formed, each worth 100 billion yuan or more, in the fields of electronics information, high-end equipment manufacturing and new materials. New-generation information technology, biomedicines, nanotechnology applications, artificial intelligence and other leading industries have developed pioneering advantages there – while the biomedicines industry has been selected as a national strategic emerging industry cluster.
Various cooperation platforms
Suzhou is one of the cities with the largest number of open industry carriers. It has 14 State-level development zones, six provincial-level development zones, eight special customs supervision zones and three first-class ports. The city also has a number of high-level development carrier platforms, such as the Jiangsu Free Trade Zone in Suzhou, the Yangtze River Delta Ecological and Green Integration Demonstration Zone in Suzhou, the Suzhou Industrial Park Comprehensive Open and Innovation Pilot Zone, the Kunshan Pilot Zone for Deepening Cross-straits Industrial Cooperation and the China-Japan (Suzhou) Local Development Cooperation Demonstration Zone. Innovative business ventures have been approved for trial in Suzhou – such as a cross-border renminbi business, a market procurement trading mode and an international maintenance business.
Livable environment, qualified business environment
The city has been committed to improving its business, innovations and living environment. It has been recognized for being a "national model city of environment protection" and it has also set up China's first national ecological city cluster. The city's level of civilization also keeps rising, with it being named as a national civilized city for five years in a row. Suzhou was voted as a "Gold Medal City of Investment Environment in China" by the World Bank and as the "Best Business City in China" by Forbes Magazine, as well as the "most attractive Chinese city for foreigners" for a consecutive eight times. It ranked first among China's inland cities four years in a row, in a poll on livable cities conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit.
III. Promising prospects for cooperation
In terms of industrial cooperation
Suzhou plans to attract foreign capital to invest in 10 advanced manufacturing industrial clusters valued at hundreds of millions of yuan. These will operate in biological medicines, new medical devices, optical communications and high-end equipment manufacturing – and they will develop there through deepening cooperation with multinational companies in joint ventures, cooperative innovation, acquisitions and reorganization. It will also encourage multinational corporations to set up regional headquarters and functional organizations. What's more, Suzhou is understood to be promising to create a capacious market space for producer services.
In terms of innovative cooperation
To provide a favorable environment for foreign enterprises to engage in innovation, the city has been committed to improving training and introducing high-level talent, as well as the construction of innovative platforms and the protection of intellectual property. Plans are for it to conduct cooperation with multinationals in wider fields with a focus on information technology, big data and intelligent manufacturing – and to promote more innovative achievements that can be applied in industrial production.
In terms of platform cooperation
Suzhou will exert efforts to become the China (Suzhou) Demonstration Area of Opening-up in Modern Times. It will do so, by making good use of opportunities during the construction of the Road and Belt Initiative, Yangtze Delta Integration, the Economic Belt of Yangtze River and free trade zones. It will further improve the mechanisms for development zones, support the construction of the China (Suzhou) Free Trade Zone and move to deepen cooperation with Singapore, Germany and Japan.
In terms of economic and trade cooperation
Despite of the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, Suzhou still maintains close economic and trade cooperation with the world. In the future, it plans to continue to expand its trade and commerce with the United States, European Union and countries and regions along the Belt and Road. It will actively expand its two-way investment space and domains and continue to cultivate new and emerging markets – to provide more carrier channels, wider market space and a better market environment for multinationals.