The China-Japan (Suzhou) Development Cooperation Demonstration Zone was unveiled in the city’s Xiangcheng District on July 5, when agreement for 228 projects involving a total investment of 91.42 billion yuan was signed.

It is one of the six demonstration zones for China-Japan local cooperation approved by the National Development and Reform Commission.

The demonstration zone is to build a layout of “one center with two wings”, with the center mainly facilitating industrial and technical cooperation between the two countries, and the two wings referring to a Yangtze River Delta international R&D hub and a cluster of intelligent manufacturing industry.

In recent years, Xiangcheng District is quickly rising as a hot spot of Japanese-invested projects. Since 2019, the number of such projects that have signed agreement and are in the process of planning has reached 58 and over 150, respectively. In the following three years, Japanese schools and medical centers will be built to support the development of the demonstration zone.

The ceremony also saw the opening of the Japan (Tokyo) Offshore Innovation Center and the Innovation Park of Suzhou Area of the China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone, both opened to support the demonstration zone. Meanwhile, the general plan and strategic priorities of the zone were also published.