Suzhou pins growth drive on greater opening-up

Suzhou, a major economic hub in Jiangsu province, has reaffirmed its commitment to leveraging greater openness to drive growth, unveiling an ambitious action plan to expand high-standard opening-up and deepen its integration into the global economy.

The plan was unveiled at a high-level citywide event focused on the city's opening-up strategy on Wednesday. Held ahead of the ninth China International Import Expo, the event sent a clear signal of the city's determination to showcase its capacity and resolve to pursue broader, higher-standard opening-up.

It brought together more than 200 senior executives from Fortune Global 500 companies, centrally administered State-owned enterprises and leading industry players attending the CIIE, which opened in Shanghai on Thursday.

The Suzhou 15th Five-Year Plan for Open Economy Development (2026-30) sets out the city's key objectives for the next five years, aiming to build an open economy characterized by stable and growing trade, strong resilience, vibrant innovation and a world-class business ecosystem. It comprises one overarching plan and nine action plans.

It also calls for strengthening Suzhou's role as an international hub connecting global markets, facilitating international flows and promoting global trade, while consolidating its position as a key link between domestic and foreign markets.

The nine action plans focus on three major areas: foreign trade, foreign investment and opening-up platforms, designed to address businesses' operational challenges and development bottlenecks through targeted measures to reduce costs, secure orders, explore new markets and enhance competitiveness.

The city also launched the development of a national demonstration zone for innovative development in trade in services, marking a new chapter in its efforts to expand service-sector opening-up.

Fan Bo, deputy Party secretary of Jiangsu province and Party secretary of Suzhou, said the city would deepen its integration into the development of the Yangtze River Delta region and the Yangtze River Economic Belt, while actively participating in the Belt and Road Initiative. It would also strengthen cooperation with Shanghai in advancing the development of its Five Centers — international economic, financial, trade, shipping, and science and technology innovation centers — as well as the greater Shanghai metropolitan area.

In the first nine months of this year, Suzhou's GDP grew 5.6 percent year-on-year, while its total imports and exports exceeded 3 trillion yuan ($449.7 billion), up 51.9 percent year-on-year, according to Fan.

Suzhou has a strong foundation in foreign trade, with its annual trade volume averaging around $350 billion in recent years, accounting for 6.3 percent of the national total, official data showed. The city is also home to a total of 18,000 foreign-invested enterprises, with cumulative utilized foreign investment exceeding $170 billion.

The open economy directly contributes to about 60 percent of the city's GDP and tax revenue as well as nearly 3 million jobs, making it a major pillar of Suzhou's economic development, according to local authorities.

To date, 192 overseas Fortune Global 500 companies have established a presence in Suzhou, with a combined 570 projects. They include global industry leaders such as Microsoft, Tesla, Bosch, Siemens and Samsung.

Ed Petter, chief corporate affairs officer of British consumer health company Haleon, said China was one of the company's most important strategic markets globally, with Suzhou serving as a cornerstone of its development in the country.

The company's roots in Suzhou date back to 1991. Over the past 35 years, it has established two advanced manufacturing campuses in the city, employing around 1,000 local staff and contributing more than 10 billion yuan in cumulative tax revenue to the local economy, according to Petter.

Beyond manufacturing, Suzhou is also home to one of Haleon's three global research and development centers, he said.

"This is not merely a regional lab. It is a core global innovation hub, connecting local researchers, consumer insights and global R&D networks," Petter said.

He expressed gratitude to the Suzhou municipal government for providing an internationalized business environment and efficient, service-oriented support, which has helped the company address operational requests and challenges.

"This reliable, open ecosystem gives us tremendous confidence to keep expanding our footprint and making long-term bets here in Suzhou," he added.

Zhang Ying, vice-president of Bosch Mobility, said Suzhou was evolving from an important manufacturing base for Bosch into a global center for technological innovation, R&D and advanced manufacturing.

In recent years, an R&D and manufacturing site for new energy vehicle core components and automated driving, with an investment of about $1 billion, began operations in Suzhou. A smart driving control industrial innovation project with a planned investment of about 10 billion yuan is also underway, Zhang said.

Contact the writers at huqing@chinadaily.com.cn