On the eve of the opening of the 9th China International Import Expo, the Suzhou Conference on Invigorating the City through Opening-Up was held in Kunshan on November 4. Fully leveraging the opening-up and innovation resources of the 9th CIIE, the conference invited more than 200 executives from Fortune Global 500 companies, central state-owned enterprises and industry-leading enterprises attending the CIIE to renew friendships and discuss plans for development. Fan Bo, Secretary of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee, delivered an address and made the keynote presentation. Wang Wei, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee and Mayor of Suzhou, presided over the conference. Also present were Huang Aijun, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Suzhou Municipal People’s Congress; Zhu Min, Chairman of the Suzhou Municipal Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference; and Qi Song, Deputy Secretary and Secretary-General of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee.
On November 4, the Suzhou Conference on Invigorating the City through Opening-Up was held in Kunshan.
On behalf of the CPC Suzhou Municipal Committee and the Suzhou Municipal Government, Fan Bo welcomed and thanked the guests for their presence. He said that openness is the defining hallmark of Chinese modernization. General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to Jiangsu’s opening-up and has set clear requirements on continuing to expand international cooperation and cultivate new strengths in a higher-standard open economy. Suzhou has earnestly studied and implemented these instructions, thoroughly carried out the decisions of the CPC Central Committee and the arrangements of the provincial Party committee and provincial government, contributing to the country’s overall opening-up agenda. The city has integrated itself into the Yangtze River Delta integration initiative, the Yangtze River Economic Belt, and the Belt and Road Initiative, while deepening the coordination with Shanghai’s “Five Centers” initiative and metropolis development. By advancing deeper reform and high-standard opening-up, Suzhou has injected strong vitality and momentum into high-quality development. In the first nine months of this year, Suzhou’s gross regional product grew by 5.6%, and its total imports and exports exceeded RMB 3 trillion with a 51.9% growth, demonstrating the strong resilience and vigorous vitality of the city’s economy.
Fan Bo noted that Suzhou is an important central city in eastern China and a pivot for Jiangsu’s “one center, one base and one hub” initiative. The city is now thoroughly studying and implementing the spirit of the Fifth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the important speeches and instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping on the work of Jiangsu and Suzhou. Aiming to be a pathfinder and a spearhead as Jiangsu strives to be a national pacesetter, Suzhou is firmly seizing three strategic levers: the integrated development of Shanghai and Suzhou in key fields, its role as a key pillar of the Shanghai (Yangtze River Delta) International Science and Technology Innovation Center, and its status as a national demonstration zone for new industrialization. Suzhou will prioritize growing the city through industry, strengthening it via innovation, and invigorating it through opening-up. By advancing high-level opening-up, Suzhou will better integrate into the global economic circulation, explore global markets on a broader scale, and leverage opening-up to spur reform, development and innovation. Suzhou sincerely welcomes entrepreneurs from across the globe to choose this city, deepen cooperation and pursue business growth on this land of history and vitality. Suzhou will press ahead with the special “Three Services” initiative—service for enterprises, service for projects, and service for industrial parks and the primary levels—fully burnish its business environment brand of “Responsive to Every Request, Committed to Every Resolution”, and work hand in hand with enterprises to build a brighter future together.
Wang Laichun, Chairwoman and General Manager of Luxshare Precision Industry Co., Ltd.; Chen Jianhua, Chairman and President of Hengli Group; Matias Campodonico, Global Vice President of Dow; Zhang Ying, Vice President of Bosch Mobility; Ed Petter, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Haleon; Zhang Xiaoyu, Member of the Management Committee of Arkema Group and President of Greater China; and Fabio Castello,CLO & Senior VP, TRATON GROUP each delivered remarks. They said that Suzhou has unique geographical advantages, a complete industrial system, a vibrant innovation ecosystem and a first-class business environment. It is a city with openness written into its DNA — to invest in Suzhou is to invest in the future. They would stay and develop business in Suzhou, bring more innovation resources, high-end talent and quality projects to the city, carry out joint technological innovation, work together to expand industrial scale. They would also help Suzhou better integrate into global innovation, industrial and supply chains, and join hands to tap the global market and achieve mutual benefit and win-win development.
At the conference, the implementation plan for the National Demonstration Zone for the Innovative Development of Trade in Services was unveiled and the launch ceremony was held.
At the conference, the implementation plan for the National Demonstration Zone for the Innovative Development of Trade in Services was unveiled and the launch ceremony was held; Suzhou’s “1+9” Action Plans for Invigorating the City through Opening-up were announced; and plaques were presented to key foreign-invested projects of the Ministry of Commerce, pilot enterprises for bonded trade, regional headquarters and functional institutions of multinational enterprises in Jiangsu, and Suzhou’s global investment promotion partners.
Also attending were officials from relevant provincial departments; leaders of Suzhou including Shi Jiahong, Han Wei, Chen Gao, Sun Jianjiang, Wan Li, Shen Mi and Ji Jing; Qian Yu, Secretary-General of the Suzhou Municipal Government; and principal officials of county-level cities (districts).
News Highlight: How to Expand Opening-Up? Suzhou Unveils a Weighty Package
The Conference officially released Suzhou’s “1+9” Action Plans for Invigorating the City through Opening-up: one master plan leading the way, supported by nine action plans in three fields, empowering enterprises across the entire chain and sharing global opportunities together.
One master plan: Suzhou Development Plan for Open Economy during the 15th Five-Year Plan Period sets the core goals for the open economy over the next five years, striving to build a development pattern of stable scale with rising quality, strong resilience, vigorous innovation and a first-class ecosystem, to continuously improve the city’s function as an open hub that connects, reaches and trades with the world, to consolidate and enhance its position as a key node of domestic and international dual circulation, and to make major progress in building a first-class international city driven by openness and innovation.
Nine action plans: starting from the three core fields of foreign trade, foreign investment and platforms, and focusing on upgrading foreign trade, cultivating quality foreign investment, steady outbound investment, upgrading platforms and diversified opening-up, nine special action plans have been issued to precisely address the pain points and difficulties enterprises face, and to help them cut costs, secure orders, expand markets and upgrade capacity with concrete measures.
