"Conference of Further Opening-Up in Suzhou" Held, Showcasing a New Look for Further Opening-Up

SUZHOU, China, Jan. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- "The opening-up has remained deep in the genes of Suzhou and been the fundamental source of the city's economic miracle", said Lan Shaomin, member of the Standing Committee of CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and party secretary of CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee. Lan expressed full confidence in building Suzhou into a preferred destination for investment in China at the "Conference of Further Opening-up in Suzhou", which was held on January 3, 2020. What attracted the most attention from attendees and analysts was 30 groundbreaking policy measures of further opening-up. With the debut of Infographic Guide to Investment in Suzhou, the city released 68.8 square kilometers of industrial plots available for global investors. At the conference, some 556 projects were signed with a combined total investment of 735.9 billion yuan (US$105.1 billion).

As the Foreign Investment Law came into effect on January 1 this year, China has been demonstrating to the world its commitment to further opening-up by optimizing business environment through legal approaches. In wake of a new round of opening-up, Suzhou will strive to enhance its global competitiveness by playing a pivotal role in the Belt and Road Initiative and the Pilot Free Trade Zone. The beautiful pearl in east China will shine even brighter on the world stage with new vibrancy.

"Suzhou is full of vitality and people here are very friendly," said Hans Duist, the founder of SIOUX, a Dutch company in Suzhou. "As a world-renowned R&D company, we will increase investment in Suzhou to lay a solid foundation for our development in the Asia-Pacific region."  

Located in southeast of Jiangsu Province and bordering with Shanghai, Suzhou is one of the most dynamic cities in the Yangtze River Delta region and is recognized by The Economist as the most livable city in Chinese mainland. The city has been at the forefront of reform and opening-up in the past 40 years and won its fame worldwide as an ideal destination for foreign investment. 

In 2018, Suzhou's GDP reached 1.86 trillion yuan (US$270.68 billion), ranking seventh among all cities across China. By the end of 2019, the foreign direct investment in the city registered US$132 billion, the third among China's large and medium-sized cities. Some 156 Fortune 500 companies have invested in more than 400 projects in Suzhou.