Suzhou, Kyushu hold economic cooperation exchange

2022-05-23 16:02:00

Suzhou in Jiangsu Province and Kyushu in Japan held an economic cooperation exchange on May 20 through an online-offline hybrid format.

The event was also part of China-Japan local development cooperation initiative as 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan relations.

Wu Qingwen, mayor of Suzhou, said the city as well as counties and districts under its administration have entered into friendship relations with over 20 regions in Japan. Suzhou is also home to one of the largest group of Japanese in China.

The event saw the launch of an innovation scheme to attract R&D institutions, international business and research teams for start-ups in digital economy. Another technology center unveiled at the event will facilitate Japanese innovation-driven enterprises to settle in Suzhou and provide them with one-stop services.

The China-Japan (Suzhou) Local Development Cooperation Demonstration Zone was approved in April 2020, acting as a new platform for Suzhou to deepen its cooperation with Japan. Suzhou is now making every effort to build the industrial innovation clusters in the era of digital economy and hopes to expand exchanges for joint progress, said Wu.

Suzhou expects such cooperation to focus on emerging industrial fields including intelligent manufacturing, energy conservation and environmental protection. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) will also support two sides to complement each other's advantages and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

Suzhou's foreign trade with Japan reached $33.6 billion in 2021, accounting for nearly 10% China's total with the neighboring country. The city is home to over 1,500 Japanese-funded companies and Japanese investment totaling $13.7 billion.

The cooperation demonstration zone, based mainly in Suzhou’s Xiangcheng District, has hosted more than 80 events for business networking and introduced 128 Japanese-funded projects with an investment of $5.9 billion, such as a project of the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.